Excuses
by GeishaKitten
Summary: After Hinata's arranged marriage to Uchiha Sasuke completely falls apart, the heartbroken heiress becomes too ashamed to stick around in Konoha and soon finds herself taking solace in some really strange company.  ItaHinaSasuish...
1. I don't need you

Well, well, people, it's been over a year since I last submitted something over here so this is kind of an experiment to see whether I can still write or not, as well as a SasuHinaIta request. So don't be too harsh with me people. :p Anyways this is more of a prologue than a chapter so everything ( such as why Sasuke and Hinata got married in the first place) will be explained in further chapters. If anyone likes it, that is, lol. So without further ado…

Oh yeah, and all characters belong to Masahi Kishimoto as if you didn't know XD

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"I don't need you anymore," Sasuke said; his voice growing icier with each word. "I'm tired of you." He turned his flashing black eyes in Hinata's direction while he spoke. Hinata leaned in front of the door of their home in order to keep herself from collapsing. "Their" home, she thought bitterly as she bent her head down and let her long, indigo hair fall over her face like a veil so that she wouldn't have to look into his black eyes.

He looked so callous and unconcerned. Doesn't he have any idea what his words are doing to me? She thought while choking back a sob. Her throat was throbbing with pain from the effort of trying hard not to cry when what she really wanted to do was scream. Scream and wake up next to him again and realize that it was all just some horrible nightmare. Instead she struggled to find her voice.

"Then what do you expect me to do now?" She asked, half whispering. Sasuke's cold expression turned into one of disgust. "Why don't you go running back to Naruto," he answered in a harsh mocking tone. Hinata's hands began to shake and she could feel heat rushing up to her face. "D…don't say that!" She shrieked, suddenly finding that she was able to raise her voice a little. How dare he do that, she thought to herself. How could he use her childhood feelings against her like that when she had purposely cast aside her affection for Naruto. Cast it aside all for him, she thought miserably. Sasuke appeared completely unaffected by her outburst.

He casually walked up to her with cold determination in his eyes. Hinata shrank back and regretted standing against the door the way that she was. Now I'm cornered, she thought as panic rose inside her. She tried to find something else to focus on, anything, so that she wouldn't have to look at him. The couch, the kitchen table; her eyes moved wildly over everything. When Sasuke finally reached her, he stood in front of her and casually wrapped a thick strand of her hair around one of his fingers, winding it and then unwinding it almost playfully as he looked her in the eye. The air was thick with his familiar scent, making it hard for her to breathe.

It brought back too many memories for her. Memories of long nights spent breathing in his scent while he told her that he loved her and would protect her over and over again. She had been childish to believe it. Of course he would say it then. He never said it any other time after all. In fact, he ignored her most of the time. She should have realized that he never loved her all along; realized that he had only married her because he basically had been forced to, but still she hung onto those memories as hope. All couples argued eventually after all.

But what he said next turned her stomach and filled her rage and pain. "Okay then," he said with a wicked smirk. "Then you can go running to Kiba or Neji or Shino or Kakashi or any of the countless others I hear you've been messing around with behind my back, because I am done with you," he declared while giving her that disapproving, disappointed look that she had seen others give her all too often during the course of her life. It was too much to handle, even for her. As if of its own will, her hand unconsciously shot out to gentle fist him in the chest, but he caught it easily. "Are you trying to kill me now, Hinata?" He asked with a note of surprise in his voice, but she could barely hear him through the throbbing in her ears; could barely see him through the mist forming in her eyes. When she failed to answer him, Sasuke turned away from her. "God," he muttered under his breath. "You women are all the same. All crazy."

Hinata wiped her eyes and once again let her anger overpower her sadness. "If that's what you think, then how can you believe all those lies?" She asked calmly. "Lies that every gossiping whore in Konoha tells out of jealousy. You're just looking for an excuse to get rid of me," she said as her voice rose to a hoarse shriek. "You're always trying to get rid of everyone!" She shouted while pointing an accusing finger at him. The cool look began to fall from Sasuke's face, but Hinata didn't want to hear another word that he had to say. She wanted to leave before he had the chance to leave her all alone in there. She quickly turned the doorknob and fled from the house as fast as she could, without looking back. It was terribly hot outside but in Hinata's mind it was nothing compared to the agonizing heat of her home. Still, she could feel herself beginning to faint and prayed that she reached somewhere, anywhere, before she fell completely apart…

END OF CHAPTER 1

Sasuke: hey!

Me: Yes, Sasuke-kun?

Sasuke: Am I really such a dick?

Me: Well…looks away and begins to whistle nervously

Sasuke: ANSWER ME, BITCH!!!!

Me: faints

Okay people, now REVIEW, REVIEW, and REVIEW!!!! I'm all rusty and need your help here! Comments, suggestions, and ideas would all be very deeply appreciated. And please, no "it sucks #$," flaming kind of reviews. If you don't like it, tell me how I can do better.

Oh, and one last thing…HYUUCHIHA PAIRINGS ROCK!!!! dances around with Hyuuga flag in one hand and Uchiha flag in the other lol XD


	2. I'm not Sasuke

Chapter 2! Yay! I finished it in time! Hopefully it doesn't seem too rushed though. Writing second chapters is hard and scary for me, lol. Anyways, thank you for all the reviews so far. I'll try my best not to disappoint. And this story is dedicated to Dark Firesong from over here and on deviantart for forcing me to get my lazy arse up and start writing again. XD-hug-

Disclaimer-Naruto's not mine. It's Kishimoto's, yeah.

So here's chapter 2.

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Hinata took another long, slow sip of her drink, loving the warmth that spread from her throat to her stomach as she did. She silently watched as an attractive and carefree looking young man casually made hid way up to her in the noisy, crowded bar. "Feeling kinda down, eh, love?" He whispered in her ear in a smooth, affected voice while hungrily staring her up and down. "I can make you feel better," he said with a wink.

Hinata replied by fixing him with a harsh Byakugan stare that quickly sent him running. She let out a long sigh as she watched him leave and nodded to the bartender for another drink. He had been only one of many men who had approached her that night. She wondered what Sasuke's reaction would be if he knew and then mentally scolded herself for thinking about him once again.

After all, her only reason for being in such a place was to forget about the hopelessness of her situation for a while, and to be somewhere where she knew that no one would ever expect to find her. At 18, Hinata was technically still too young to drink (but not too young to be married, she thought bitterly), but she had learned from an early age that with a name like 'Hyuuga' or 'Uchiha,' one could get away with pretty much anything. Sasuke had even betrayed his village only to be welcomed back with open arms by almost everybody.

Damn it, I'm doing it again, she thought to herself while clenching her fist and holding dangerously tight to her glass. Why can't I stop thinking about him? When did I become so obsessive about him? It's not fair. I used to be the only girl who wasn't obsessed with him, who didn't even care much for him. And now I've ended up just like all the rest, she thought miserably. As these thought swum around in her head, tormenting her; she suddenly swallowed the rest of her drink as if it could flush away all of her unpleasant emotions. This time, it burned her throat, making her shiver and cough. Her stomach and head were turning violently and she was beginning to sweat all over.

The fast music, the rowdy crowd, the dark lighting; everything appeared to be fusing together in a way that was making her feel alarmed and on edge. Isn't getting drunk supposed to make you feel happy, light headed and free? Hinata thought miserably. The only things that she felt at the moment were sickness, dizziness, and even a bit of a violent temper. She desperately wanted to escape from the bar, but where was there for her to go? Going back to the Hyuuga main house was completely out of the question. Since marrying Sasuke nearly two years before, she was no longer considered one of them anymore. She cringed as she imagined her father's enraged face. He certainly would want nothing to do with her in a drunken state, and if she were to tell him about her situation with Sasuke, he'd most likely place all of the blame on her, she thought with a depressed sigh.

Going to stay with Kiba, Shino, or Neji was equally out of the question. They would all take her in with no questions asked, but staying with any of them would only be giving Sasuke proof for his so called suspicions, she thought with a groan. There was always Kurenai, who had treated Hinata like a daughter for much of her life and who understood her more than anyone, but Hinata shook her head as soon as the thought entered her mind. Kurenai was a busy woman with many responsibilities. On top of that, she was raising a hyperactive toddler all on her own. It would be extremely selfish to burden her or anybody else with her problems, Hinata thought while burying her head in her hands. Her normally straight hair was now wavy and undone and clung to the sweat on her neck. She slowly lifted her head back up. I have no other choice but to beg Sasuke to take me back, she realized. I'll do anything it takes, no matter how pathetic, to get things back to how they used to be. She thought as she struggled to get up and focus on her surroundings. The bar was beginning to get so filled that she felt as if she might suffocate.

She stumbled around for a minute before her vision started to fail her and her knees started to give way. It was no wonder that ninjas were supposed to avoid heavy drinking. Hinata couldn't even imagine being able to fight in her condition. Everybody here must be as pathetic as me, she figured. She felt herself slipping, but two strong arms wrapped around her before she could further humiliate herself by collapsing. "You okay, miss?" The man asked her with a concerned expression on his face. "Yes, thank you," she answered while clinging to him for a brief moment, enjoying the warm, safe feeling of being in somebody's embrace. She gathered her chakra strength in her legs as best as she could and turned to continue on her way out, but the sight that met her eyes paralyzed her with panic. There in front of her stood Sasuke, with his arms folded and a look of undisguised contempt on his face.

Shit! She thought, uncharacteristically swearing in her mind. What is he doing here? Had he seen her in the arms of that stranger and assumed that something was happening? As she thought over what she should say to him, he began to storm out without a word. "Sasuke! Don't leave me!" She shouted, not caring if anyone was listening, but she lost sight of him as he got swallowed up in the crowd. To make things even worse, Hinata could barely see through her glazed, blurry eyes. Damn it, this is bad, she though, mentally cursing herself for ever having entered such a place. In a ninja village, everyone knew everything. Somebody had probably let Sasuke know where she was as soon as she got there.

Sasuke was ridiculously fast, but Hinata was determined to catch up to him. She frantically scanned the bar until she caught sight of his flashing black eyes. They were unmistakable, she thought with relief. She half ran, half staggered over to him and threw her arms tightly around him while panting breathlessly. "I can't let you go, Sasuke," she said between breaths before she pressed her lips softly against his. He pressed his back, and she opened her mouth, letting her tounge linger and roam the corners of his mouth. She paused for breath, inhaling and enjoying the familiar taste of him as she began to shiver like mad. "Take me back home, now, please!" She cried as she buried her head on his chest and listened to his calm steady heartbeat. He ran his fingers through her hair and leaned closer towards her ear. "Sorry to disappoint you, miss," he whispered in an amused tone. A tone that startled and confused her because, she realized with a start, it was clearly not Sasuke's voice. "But I'm certainly not Sasuke," he continued as though he had read her mind. Hinata slowly stepped back, and took a good look at the smirking stranger with eyes like Sasuke's before she suddenly found herself lying on the ground as everything began to fade away.

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So there's chapter two for ya, damn, that was long,lol. When I had first had this all in my head, Itachi wasn't gonna show up till like chapter four or so, but I thought that would annoy people and piss them off. So there he is right at the end. That part was fun to write. XD So as always REVIEW and SUGGEST away, all you beautiful people ;p and no underage drinking kids,lol


	3. Baby Doll

I'm soooooo sorry for making everyone wait but once a week updates seem to be the best that I can do. But hey, at least I'm not one of those who updates every month or so,lol. This one was really, really hard to write because I couldn't tell if I as writing Itachi in character or not. I mean seriously, he is so frikkin hard to figure out. ;p

Disclaimer-while I sit here thinking up crazy situations for his characters, somewhere in Japan, Masashi Kishimoto is swimming in money for having created them.

Chap 3!!!!

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Drunk, Sasuke- worshipping, pitiful whore. Those had been the first words that had come to Itachi's mind following the strange dark haired girl's bizarre kissing and fainting episode. But as he carefully watched her lying on his bed; whimpering in her sleep with her eyes partially open and her hands frantically clutching at the sheets as if she were in the middle of some particularly terrifying nightmare, he could see that she was a far more than just that.

Her large, striking white eyes; which darted around wildly in her head during her deep slumber, were clearly the fearsome eyes of a Hyuuga. However, it was the Uchiha clan symbol, rather than that of the Hyuuga, which the girl wore on her jacket. When it had first caught his attention, he'd thought that perhaps his weak eyes had been playing tricks on him, but after turning on the lights and moving closer to get a better look, he realized that it was unmistakable.

Hmm, he thought with some amusement. She must be married to his brother then. How fitting that he should attempt to revive their clan with a woman from the clan from which the Uchihas had originally descended from. He supposed that after their last encounter, in which Itachi had nearly killed him, Sasuke must have redirected his focus from getting revenge to reviving the clan.

Itachi smiled at the memory of that fight. All of Sasuke's training with Orochimaru had come to nothing, and the nine tails jinchuuriki had dragged him, wounded and half-crazy, back to Konoha. The smile quickly faded from Itachi's face when he thought of the kyuubi boy. He had proven to be an elusive catch for Akatsuki. In fact, things hadn't been going as easy for Akatsuki as they had expected. The organization was starting to become rather desperate, and Itachi and Kisame were staying in a stolen apartment in an obscure village until they received any new orders from their leader.

The original owners had fled in a fit of terror when they caught sight of the menacing pair, and had never returned, so the two claimed it for themselves. He remembered their frightened eyes with a grin, and then he remembered that Kisame was downstairs. Kisame hadn't said a single word when Itachi had stepped into the house with an unconscious girl slung over his shoulder like some useless ragdoll. He just shook his head and sighed. He knew better than to ask any questions so Itachi proceeded to take her into his room. After what had happened in the bar, he had been somewhat aroused, much as he hated to admit it. He had been pushing his luck by even being there in Konoha, but that had been part of the fun, and after the last couple years, Itachi figured that he could use a little fun. Sasuke being there had made it even more interesting.

Sasuke had been so into watching what his stupid little drunk wife was doing that he had failed to notice Itachi in the crowd. Fool, Itachi thought with disgust, before another low moan from the girl turned his thoughts back towards her. He had originally planned to get what he needed from her(sex, obviously) and then throw her out in the morning to find her own way back home. Hell, after all of that "Sasuke, take me home," nonsense that she had been spouting back at the bar, Itachi had figured that she was that type of girl anyways so he felt not a hint of guilt. Not that he would've felt guilty otherwise. Guilt was a foreign emotion to him, and a new, even darker plan was beginning to form in his mind.

As he thought on it, he reached for his kunai and began stroking the woman's soft pale throat with it, circling it. Maybe Itachi had been lucky to find this girl who had been unlucky enough to find him. Sasuke would hate him more than ever if he were to return his poor wife to Konoha slashed to near pieces or something of that sort, he thought with some satisfaction, but he decided to get a good look at her before he made any final decision. She had a round, childlike face on a full and womanly body. It was an alluring combination, even if her face wasn't exactly what one would call beautiful. Itachi thought that beauty was way overrated anyways. It was useless once the lights were turned out, especially with his eyes, but Itachi tried to shake away such thoughts.

He was probably going to kill the girl after all. He concentrated on the task before him and slowly drew his kunai from her throat to her heaving chest, drawing a thin, dark line of blood. She opened her huge eyes wide then and stared straight into his own. Itachi activated his sharingan. The girl was still a shinobi after all, even if she appeared so deliciously and perfectly weak. He then realized that she was still asleep, her eyes seeing simply illusions as a result of her intoxicated state.

"I'm yours now, Sasuke, not Naruto's," she said with warm devoted eyes while reaching out to touch his face before her eyes closed once again, and the small dark room was completely silent save for the monotonous hum of a fan and the rhythmic drone of cicadas coming from outside, but her words seemed to echo in Itachi's ears, and he was left with an odd discomfort. A twisting, sickening feeling of greed and coveting which he'd never really felt before. Why should such a soft and fragile creature belong to his good for nothing brother? For some perplexing reason, Itachi wanted to hear what his name sounded like coming from her pretty little baby voice. He wanted to make her forget that Sasuke had ever even existed in the world. He wanted to keep her and not let anyone else ever see her, touch her, or talk to her besides himself. He would treat her like the porcelain baby doll that she so appeared to be. His doll.

He threw aside the kunai and began to stroke her neck, wiping the drying blood off with his fingers. Then he began to wipe the tears from her eyes; blood and tears mixing together in his hands. She would be his possession and nothing more than that.

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Okay, there's chapter three for all you smexy people,lol. It was really weird, wasn't it? I'm a little scared to see what the reviews for this one will be –faints-.

Sasuke: I wasn't in this one, so yeah, it sucks.

Me: -cries- but Itachi wasn't in the first one so I had to make it even! You'll be in the next.

Sasuke: better be-stares with sharingan activated-

REVIEW! SUGGEST! REVIEW! SUGGEST!


	4. A way out of shame

It's me again, I'm not disappearing anytime soon. So here's chapter 4.

Disclaimer: This wouldn't be fanfiction if it belonged to me now would it. It belongs to the widely worshipped Masashi Kishimoto…

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Hinata awoke to a violent, piercing ache in her head. She cried out, thinking that perhaps she was being attacked, and swiftly sat up with her throbbing head in her hands, only to fall back down again with her legs tangled in a thin blanket. She lay there, completely still, breathing slowly until the pain gradually died down. She tightly shut her eyes and dared to hope against all of her reason that she was at home at that particular moment. Sasuke would probably throw open the door at any minute, she thought. He would tease her mercilessly for having gotten wasted until she begged him, on the verge of tears, to stop. Then he would smirk and apologize, and the teasing would turn into touching (she still blushed bright red just thinking about it) and he would tell her how much it tore him apart to see her run away and how he never wanted to lose her ever again. At least that's how she desperately wished from the bottom of her heart that things would happen.

Hinata lazily opened her eyes, only to be greeted by a chaotic mess of unfamiliar surroundings. A small animal cry escaped from her throat as she took it all in, and she had to cover her mouth with her hand to keep herself from throwing up. The room was small and mostly bare, with gray walls and the sheets on the bed which she lay on were a moody shade of blue. There were a few things that were tossed carelessly on the floor here and there, and one of those things, she noticed with a spasm of terror, just happened to be an Akatsuki jacket. In its harsh shades of black and red, it stuck out conspicuously from everything else that was in the room. She went completely white at the sight of it (as if she wasn't naturally pale enough already), threw her head into the pillow, and screamed until her throat felt like it would explode and bleed.

She dug her fingers into her hair as a barrage of frightening questions raced through her mind. Why am I here, she thought. How in the hell did I end up here? In a bed? Akatsuki? Why? She quickly sat up and let out a deep sigh of relief to see that she was still fully clothed, at least, although she was alarmed to notice that there was what seemed to be dried blood on her jacket. That momentary panic brought her back to her last moments at the bar before she blacked out, and to the panic that she last felt as she was staring at Itachi.

The same Itachi who had made Sasuke's life a living hell, and who was probably going to make her life into an even worse hell, she thought as she smacked herself on the forehead for getting into such a perfectly hopeless situation. She felt as if she had just received a death sentence, and was just sitting there like a prisoner awaiting her final moment in a cold, gray room. Over the years, Hinata had grown to be considered a fierce and talented opponent in battle. Though she had yet to come anywhere near to her cousin Neji's skill level, she had stil become someone that her family could be proud of. However, she was miserably aware that against someone like Itachi, she was worth absolutely nothing. In this case, Neji's formerly cherished theories on unchangeable destiny would be dead on, she thought with a deep and mournful sigh that turned into a painful, choking sob.

Itachi would probably beat her, rape her, and put her through all kinds of unimaginable tortures before Sasuke or anyone else could track her here. Then if Sasuke did come for her, Itachi would probably use the mangekyou sharingan and force Sasuke to watch every terrifying second of it. For the sake of her husband's sanity, she knew that she couldn't allow that to happen. Even though she felt drained and paralyzed, and had no will to fight what she knew was a losing battle; for Sasuke's sake, she had to do something, but she could only think of one terrible thing.

She closed her eyes and thought of her first love, Naruto, like she always did when she was afraid. Her feelings for him had been the purest and sweetest that she had ever felt.

His charmingly awkward smile and tireless spirit had intrigued and inspired her. Her feelings for Sasuke had been so much more complex and complicated. He would've expected something like this to happen to her, she thought, but Naruto had believed in her. Believed that she could be more. And it had all come to nothing. She was indeed a failure…The sound of hushed voices coming from a nearby room snapped her out of her daydreaming and reminded her of what needed to be done. She took a kunai from her pocket and held it lovingly to her chest, glad that all of her shame would come to an end at last.

FLASHBACK-Hyuuga main house

The little girl sat with her head down, on the tatami mat floor. She was cold and she was scared so her shoulders shook violently. She tried her hardest to stop them, to calm herself, because she knew that her father was looking down on her with eyes full of disappointment, but it was of no use. She wished that she could go running back to her soft spoken, kind eyed mother and her baby sister, but she didn't dare to move a single muscle. "Hinata, it has been two years since the night that you were nearly kidnapped. Do you remember that night?" He asked in a monotonous tone of voice which betrayed no emotion whatsoever. She tried hard to answer, but her uncontrollable shaking was causing her words to come out broken and nearly unintelligible. "Y…y.yes, f..fff..father, I r..re..remember that," she managed to reply.

"You are a frail and sickly child, like your mother." He said. Hiashi's voice seemed to break a little at the mention of her mother, who did indeed seem to be sick most of the time, despite the constant attention of some of the best medic ninjas. "The leader of the Cloud village probably noticed this about you, and thus chose you as an easy target for capture," he said with eyes that began to blaze with anger at the memory. "That is why you must become someone that no one would even dare to touch, someone who is strong and who inspires fear and respect, even at your young age." He stared at her intently while he spoke, making her anxious and fidgety. She barely understood what he was trying to tell her, and was terrified of having to look him in the eye. She was only six after all, and so she focused on a bright colored bird that stood perched on a nearby window instead, very much wishing that she could trade places with it. Hiashi saw this and roughly turned her face towards his once again. "You will listen to me while I speak," he yelled as tears began to roll down Hinata's small round face. He looked away from her and sighed.

"Most of the time, the branch members of our family will be there to protect you, Hinata, as will I. We will make sure that you are never again captured alive." Hinata smiled weakly; feeling relieved and reassured, until he spoke again. "But if you ever were to be captured again, it would probably be the end for you, and the secrets of our blood limit would be at risk." He nodded as he spoke. He seemed more concerned about the byakugan than about her, she thought as her bottom lip began to tremble.

"Your only option then would be to take your own life, for your own honor and for the protection of our clan's secrets." He continued as he drew out a small kunai from the folds of his robe and placed it in front of her. She saw her round, blurry face reflected on its shining surface. "A blow to the neck is the quickest way to do it," he said nonchalantly. Hinata froze for a moment as the full meaning of his words hit her, and all of the noise she had been holding in came bursting out. All the tears, wails, and sobs echoed in the quiet little room, but a small smile began to form on Hiashi's face.

He lifted her chin up so that she was looking him in the eye once again. "You don't want it to have to come to that, do you, Hinata?" He asked.

"Nnn..n..no! I d.ddon't wanna die!" Hinata nearly screamed out the words.

He gave her a harsh look then. "Then go. Improve. Become worthy of your birthright. You may return to your mother." He said while waving his hand to dismiss her. She ran, without looking back, from the silent, dark-lit room and bumped straight into her cousin Neji. She fell hard on the floor. As she got up and rubbed her bleeding nose, she saw that he was staring at her with a triumphant grin on his face. She loved her older cousin and didn't understand how during the past year he had become so cold with her. He bent down towards her. "A blow to the neck is the quickest way to do it," he whispered mockingly before he ran off snickering, leaving Hinata to cry all by herself on the floor.

FLASHBACK END

Hinata reflected back on that day. Her stuttering had begun around that time, and her mother had also died a short time later for reasons no one could explain, so it was a time she didn't like to dwell on. "At least I'll be able to see her again," she said as she prepared to stab herself in the throat. However when she looked down, she saw that her hand was empty, and with deep frustration she realized that she was not alone. "I'm very sorry but you will not be seeing her anytime soon." Itachi said casually as he stood in the corner, watching while Hinata screamed out loud in disappointment once again.

Chapter 4 end

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This was kind of moody eh. And yes, I know I'm a little late. The reason for both is that it was that time of the month if you know what I mean and I hadn't really felt like writing but I did anyways, so I hope y'all enjoy. Your reviews make me smile and if you can think of any way that I can improve this story and make it better, than please let me know.

Sasuke- that time of the month? Way too much information.

Me-Why do you keep popping up anyways!!! (starts throwing scary temper tantrum)

Now review lovely people!


	5. Lying and Acting

Chapter 5, right on time. Sorry if it reads kind of like a filler chapter. I'm still kind of thinking over what should happen next. –blush-

Disclaimer- Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto. Understood?

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Itachi watched the girl from where he stood in the corner of the room. She had her arms wrapped tightly around her knees and was rocking back and forth on the bed like a nervous child in a futile attempt to calm herself. Every once in a while she lifted her head and stared at him with eyes that shone vicious with loathing, which startled and intrigued him. He hadn't thought her capable of hatred, or of suicide for that matter.

"You wish to die?" He asked, breaking the uneasy silence. She seemed to be in another world though, not hearing or seeing him. "Come," he said while roughly grabbing her arm and leading her out of the room without waiting for a reply. She kicked and tried to wrench herself free as he pulled her down the stairs and he could almost taste her rising panic.

"Don't even think of trying anything foolish," he warned while giving her a paralyzing stare. He knew all about the Hyuuga fighting techniques after all. He had learned about them as a child as there had always been a slight feeling of competition between the two families. Perhaps the Hyuugas should thank me for what I did to my clan, Itachi thought with a sardonic smile.

He glanced at her once more and was surprised once again to see her giving him an equally paralyzing stare of her own. She seemed more like some captured wild animal than a delicate doll, he thought with both amusement and annoyance. He pushed open the door and then threw her hard to the ground. She flinched and squinted her eyes against the sudden harsh sunlight and vivid colors that filled her eyes. He bent down so that he was at eye level with her. "Do you remember what happened at the bar or would you like me to remind you?" He asked her coldly. She quickly looked down on the ground to hide the look of shame on her face, but Itachi had caught it.

"I'll tell you all about it then," he said while inching closer to her while she tried in vain to back away. "Your own darling Sasuke saw you behaving shamelessly with every man there."

"Nnnn…no!" She shouted as a deep red blush spread its way through her face and neck. He nodded and smiled as she began to tremble. "He was enraged of course, and when he saw you with me, he went all fanatical in that stupid way of his and tried to kill the both of us. He failed of course, and if I hadn't brought you here you would've been a useless bloody mess right about now. So you can at least be a little more grateful." He continued while grabbing at her arm again.

He was mostly lying of course, and acting as well. It was what came naturally to him, and in his mind, the end always justified the means. She buried her head in the grass and screamed again. Itachi frowned.

"I don't believe you! What do you want from me!" Hinata yelled.

"God, your loud. If you don't believe me, than I can show you," he said in a threatening voice while his eyes flashed with the crimson of the sharingan. Hinata froze. It seemed to have done the trick. "And I guess your right.," he said while nodding.

"I probably don't need anything from you. In fact, I think I might be getting sick of you already," he whispered bluntly in her ear.

"So if you still want to die, I'm sure that Sasuke would be perfectly happy to do it for you." He stood and began to walk away from her. "But if you want to live, then stay here until I think of something useful for you to do," he said coldly. As he looked back at her, he noticed that she was beginning to look tense and unwell. He turned back around.

"And don't get any silly ideas about how you might end up to be useful. Your much too dull and unattractive for my tastes. I suppose Sasuke's eyesight must also be failing if he chose you for a wife," he said casually. Surprisingly, he wasn't trying to be purposely rude. He just needed to get her to feel that she wasn't in any immediate danger, even if it meant revealing a weakness of his. The girl groaned and began to stand up while brushing off the dirt and grass from her hair and clothes.

"Gggg...g.gg.God damn you!" She screamed before storming back into the house in tears.

"Got her," Itachi whispered to himself with satisfaction as he followed her back in. 888

Hinata where the hell are you? Sasuke banged violently against the walls of the shower and shivered despite the warm water that rushed over him. The deep emptiness and silence in the house were too much to take and he felt as if he might explode at any second. He shook away the water from his face in an attempt to shake away such disturbing feelings. It shouldn't even matter to him where Hinata was anymore; he had chosen to remove her from his life. She never belonged in it anyways.

It was that damned Hokage woman's idea for him to get married so that he would have other things to focus on and hopefully forget about chasing after Itachi (as if he would ever do that), and Hyuuga Hiashi had been all too eager to try and get on Tsunade's good side by marrying off his seemingly inadequate older daughter to him.

The water started to lose its heat but Sasuke was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't even notice. Ever since he had stepped back into his cursed village, everybody had to go and act like they fucking owned him. By leaving Hinata, he had wanted to prove that nobody would ever own him and that he was perfectly capable of making his own decisions.

Still, despite all that, he hadn't expected for it to hurt the way it did. He hadn't expected to spend all night long wondering who she had gone home with. He hadn't expected to miss the sound of her voice in the morning. Sasuke sighed. Naruto and Sakura had tried to reach out to him often, but he found it difficult to relate to them after so long. Hinata on the other hand, had been completely new to his life. He had identified with her silence and even with her shyness.

Sasuke turned the water, which had by now gone freezing ,off and stepped out of the shower. Forget about her, he thought. It never would have worked out. I could never have revived the clan with her. The new Uchiha clan would've probably ended up looking like another Hyuuga side branch, with the Byakugan likely taking genetic dominance over the Sharingan and other Uchiha bloodline traits. She wasn't what I needed.

Sasuke tried to reassure himself with thoughts like these, but still, he felt strangely edgy and uneasy about the whole thing…

Chapter 5 end

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Lol, I just had to write in a Sasuke shower scene. So now all of you that actually like Sasuke (as I do surprisingly XD) can enjoy picturing him naked or something.

Itachi: when's my shower scene?

Me: If I were to do that, dear, my keyboard would be covered in blood from a massive nosebleed.

LOL, review darlings. Your reviews are what keeps this story going!!!


	6. Screwed

Another chapter. Yay. Sorry for the emo-ness and slight OOC-ness that might be in this one.

Disclaimer: Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto. Not me. Though all the characters are very dear to me, hehe

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For once in her short life, Hyuuga Hinata felt unashamedly and unapologetically enraged in a way that caused a tight, twisting, burning sensation to rise in her chest. She felt enraged at the world and at fate and she was just itching for the satisfying release of a good fight as she stomped back into the drab and gloomy looking apartment. I think I finally understand what Sasuke's moods must have felt like, she thought as an angry groan escaped her mouth .

Why couldn't I have been born as a normal girl in a normal village with a normal family where I would never have to worry about being virtually enslaved by my mass murdering brother-in-law? She asked herself as she grabbed a nearby pillow and tossed it forcefully, only to notice with sudden horror that it was heading straight towards Kisame, who had suddenly walked into the living room. He caught it with his menacing looking sword Samehade, which ripped it apart and sent a shower of downy white feathers flying across the room.

Oh holy shit, Hinata thought as her face went red. She realized that she had completely forgotten about Itachi's Akatsuki partner. Don't faint, don't faint, please don't faint, she silently begged herself as he began to step closer, but it was amusement rather than aggression that seemed to be written on Kisame's sharklike features.

"Your still here? Are you some kind of psycho groupie of Itachi's or something?"

He asked with a brash smile that bared his sharp teeth. Hinata tried to open her mouth but it seemed to be frozen shut. Itachi, who had been standing in front of the door and staring at the feather filled living room with an annoyed look, answered for her.

"She's distant family of mine," he said. It was true after all, in a way. "She isn't wanted or needed anymore in Konoha," he said with a penetrating glare in Hinata's direction. "So she'll probably be staying here for a while," he continued in a bored tone of voice. Kisame's eyes lit up.

"Why Itachi, I had no idea that you were capable of such genero…" Kisame stopped talking once he saw the harsh stare that Itachi was giving him and turned his attention to Hinata once more. "Such cute, chubby cheeks," he said while giving one of them a hard pinch. "Just like the girls back in Kirigakure," he said while looking away with an expression of nostalgia on his face; blissfully unaware that Hinata was busy thinking up possible ways to kill him should the need ever arise.

"I can see why you left then," Itachi replied while looking Hinata up and down with a frown. What is up with his attitude? Hinata wondered. After all, Sasuke had Itachi to blame for his moodiness, so what was Itachi's excuse? Guilt? Dissatisfaction?

"So, um, what's your name, kid?" Kisame asked with a rough poke.

"Hi-hi-Hinata…," she replied weakly, noting with dismay that the old stuttering habit that she had worked so hard to control over the years seemed to be returning under the stress of the moment.

"Well then, miss Hi-hi-Hinata. Would you mind picking up this mess?" He asked in mock politeness while picking up a feather and playfully blowing it in front of her face. What a pair of jerks, Hinata thought as she held a sneeze and began to do as she was told.

"And after that, the bathroom needs a really good scrub, oh and I think that I forgot to wash last night's dishes, and my bed still needs to be made and…"

"Kisame, you can do all of those things. For now, leave the girl alone." Itachi interrupted; his irritation clear in his voice. Kisame mumbled angrily to himself and started to do it on his own.

"And you," Itachi continued, looking at Hinata, "should go and get cleaned up." He stared at her for a moment before taking some of her hair and giving it a hard tug. He walked away, but Hinata's eyes never once left him. Sasuke used to do that all the time, she thought with a sigh as she rubbed at the sore spot on her head where her hair had been pulled. He even walks like Sasuke, she thought as the angry feeling in her chest was replaced by a feeling somewhat like agony and somewhat like bliss at the same time… 888

The first day that Hinata was gone, Sasuke tried to ignore her absence. He tried to pretend that nothing was different. On the second day, he felt furious. Why was she still hiding like a pitiful child? He had wondered. But on the third day, he began to feel fear and worry. What if she had wandered somewhere while she was drunk, and gotten herself killed in a fight or something? After all, unless your name was Rock Lee or Tsunade, a drunken ninja didn't stand too much of a chance. Still, he tried his hardest to ignore his feelings, and did his best to go on with his life and his ninja duties; figuring that if she didn't show up somewhere within a week, he would attempt to start asking about her and searching for her.

Unfortunately for him, news traveled ridiculously fast in Konoha, and by the fourth day, most people were already aware that Hinata was missing, and they were convinced that Sasuke was covering up something. As if I would murder her and hide her rotting corpse somewhere, he thought half sarcastically. Seriously, if I have to face another long, nasty stare or accusation from either Kiba or that damned know it all Neji, they will end up being the ones to be murdered, he had thought to himself.

Sakura, Naruto, Kakashi, and even Sai had all defended him passionately and offered to help him find her, which made him feel slightly guilty for his constant ignoring of them, but he decided that he should go and find Hinata himself before things escalated and got crazier. Of course, he planned to completely keep secret the fact that he had ended things with her right before she went missing. That information would only cause people to be even more suspicious of him, and so as he sat in front of Tsunade in her office, he hoped that she couldn't see through to his fears and worries.

"Sasuke, I can understand your feelings in wanting to go off and find her, but can you understand that I can't just let you leave Konoha so easily again for awhile? After all, how do I know that you didn't arrange to have Hinata kidnapped as an excuse for you to leave and go after Itachi again," Tsunade said calmly as she looked him straight in the eye. Good God, how she annoyed him. Most women did annoy him actually, before Hinata came around…

Damnit, why can't I let go of her for just a moment, he wondered while looking down. Tsunade gave him a sympathetic glance. "Don't worry, I'm sure ANBU will find her soon and it will all be just some kind of silly misunderstanding," she said with a reassurring smile. A fake smile, he thought with disgust. He nodded and slowly got up to leave. I don't care what she says, he thought. I'll find a way to bring her back on my own, and if she's alive, she better have one hell of a good explanation for all of this, he thought as his eyes blazed red with sudden fury.

End of chapter 6

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Yeah, I know that this is kind of short filler chapter. Don't kill me people, I'm still trying to work everything out in my mind. And I seem to be able to do only short chapters due to time constraints but I thank all of you who are staying loyal to me and who are believing in me. A big hug to you all…now review!!


	7. Karin

Tis another chapter. I tried to make it a little longer to satisfy those who say my chapters are too short. I'm really trying to work on that even if it takes longer to finish.

Disclaimer: Naruto and all characters © Masashi Kishimoto

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Karin was the last person that Sasuke had wanted to include in his search for Hinata, but he was becoming desperate and had very few choices. Her very name made him cringe, but there she stood in front of him with her hands on her hips as usual and her mouth turned up in a curious sort of smile. "So you wanted me?" She asked in that shrill high pitched voice of hers which was almost as bad as Sakura's. Sasuke sighed and started to look nervously around. He and Karin were meeting secretly in a secluded forest area and he didn't want anyone to spot him speaking with a former hebi teammate and making hasty and scandalous assumptions about where his supposed loyalties lay.

He gave a slow nod in reply. Only it was such a small nod that it was barely even noticeable (one needed to pay serious attention when speaking with one of the Uchihas), but Karin had definitely noticed it. She provocatively strolled up to him and boldly slipped her arms around his waist.

"I knew you would call for me eventually," she whispered in an alluring tone of voice which made Sasuke shiver. Unfortunately for her though, it was a shiver of annoyance rather than of arousal.

"Karin, cut it out right now!" He yelled while snatching away her glasses and holding them high up over his head. "Unless you want something to happen to these," he threatened. Karin began to blink furiously and tried in vain to grab them back.

"Hey, what in the hell, I need those!" She screamed as she lunged for them in vain once again.

"Ready to quit playing around?" He cast a stony stare in her direction. She threw her hands up and sighed.

"Fine, Sasuke, my God!" She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and stepped away from him. "Ever since you ended up back in that boring old village of yours, you've started to get as annoying as…" Karin paused for a moment to think. "As annoying as, as that damned Suigetsu!" She shouted while dramatically pointing her finger towards him and pouting like a spoiled child.

Her comment made him wonder what had become of the other two members of the team which he had formed to help him get his revenge on his brother , but he decided not to ask her about it. That might make it seem like he cared too much and would've probably just annoyed Karin, who liked to have all of Sasuke's attention focused on her.

The two of them had "hooked up"a couple of times before he ended up back in Konoha, but it had meant close to nothing for the both of them, other than as a way to pass time. Still, Sasuke wondered what Hinata would think about him choosing a (sort of )ex girlfriend to go looking for her. But then again, she was now technically his ex too. His ex wife. Gosh, that sounded so weird. It sounded so final and permanent. So…terrifying.

"You're not sleeping standing up or something, are you?" Sasuke was brought back to his surroundings once again. He had a serious urge to cover his ears with his hands whenever Karin spoke but decided to just bear with her for a little more.

"Karin, you've snuck around in my so called 'boring' village more than a few times, am I right?" Karin looked down and blushed softly. She was too proud to admit to having been stalking, but still she nodded anyways. For some reason, seeing Karin's blushing and sudden humble attitude made Sasuke ache terribly in his whole entire body. It reminded him way too much of Hinata and he wanted her to just stop and to be all…Karin-ish again. He figured his next words would probably do just the trick.

"Well than surely you're familiar with the chakra of the Hyuuga clan, more specifically the chakra of Hi…" Karin suddenly and rudely interrupted him. The color of her face was slowly starting to match with her flaming red hair.

"Don't tell me this has something to do with that mousey, childish little wifey of yours!"

Sasuke smiled. Now this was a side of Karin that he was used to having to deal with.

"Yes it does, but you can quit your fit because she's not my wife anymore. I don't feel anything for her. Never did." Karin smiled in satisfaction at hearing his last words. Sasuke tried to ignore it and continued. Best to let her think that way, he thought.

"But she's gone missing. And if anything has happened to her or if she's never found, you can bet that some son of a bitch is going to place the blame on me. I'll have no way to clear myself, and Tsunade will show no mercy, that's for sure."

Karin giggled. "Sounds like life in Konoha is more interesting than I thought. So I get it now. You want my to use my chakra sensing abilities to help you find your poor ex in order to save your own skin, hmm?"

Sasuke frowned and looked down. "Pretty much." Karin reached out to touch his face, bringing his head back up and looking into his eyes.

"Don't worry Sasuke-kun. I'll do it for you. But there better be something in it at the end for me." With that, she strolled off again into the forest, which was beginning to get cold and dark, leaving Sasuke on his own once again. He watched her until her form grew smaller and disappeared into the distance before he too turned to leave, wishing that he too could disappear. 88888

Hinata sat outside on the grass listening to the cicadas and just enjoying the tranquility of the night. Although her name meant "a sunny place", Hinata was equally fond of the soft light of the moon. It was derived from the sun anyways, she thought with a long sigh. Hinata had barely noticed as the first week away from home had passed by. Each day was the same to her. A perfect routine and she liked that. Itachi and Kisame left her pretty much alone to do as she pleased. For a girl who had spent her whole life pushing her body and mind mercilessly, it felt amazingly good to have to do nothing, but how long would it last that way? She shivered as the chill of the night suddenly got to her. Maybe they really were just biding their time, planning to use her for something horrible.

I hope it's not rude if I just take a look, she thought as she looked towards the apartment and nervously activated her byakugan. Kisame was there, sleeping as usual, but where was…? Hinata screamed as Itachi grabbed her from behind.

"You enjoy spying, hmm?" He asked before dropping her to the ground.

"N-n-no! I was just…I'm sorry!" Hinata was crawling backwards on the dark, wet grass now. Itachi knelt down so that his face was level with hers and smiled. To Hinata, his eyes seemed to glow like a cat's in the dark.

"Akatsuki could always use more spies." He whispered in her ear. "And women have a natural talent for it, though you could obviously use a little more practice. That ability of yours could be useful though." Hinata sucked back a sob.

"But I don't want to be a spy. I don't wanna be anything." Hinata was surprised to notice that she wasn't stuttering.

"Did you really think that we were going to let you stay with us for free?" He asked. Hinata looked away. She had been foolishly hoping for just that. Itachi pulled her closer to him and she wondered if he was going to kiss her as they were practically breathing the same breath at the moment. She didn't know whether she would feel disgusted or thrilled if that happened.

"Just know that you are going to have to give me something in return eventually," he said. And then he was gone, leaving Hinata feeling stained and anxious.

End of chapter 7

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This one is a little late because I had a little writer's block and plus my mom kept hovering over me saying stuff like, "you're not writing nasty sex stories, are you?" And annoying me, so I couldn't really focus on the story so if it sucks, blame it on my mom.

Anyways, I'm actually a Karin fan, surprisingly. I like red hair and glasses, lol. No one can compare with Hinata though, of course.

Review all you pwnsome people!!!!!!!!!


	8. Death

I'm back. I've got the dreaded disease of writer's block. So read at your own peril, or something like that, lolz

Naruto and all characters © Masashi Hishimoto

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"I'm sorry Hinata." Itachi held Hinata's limp body in his arms and stared into her white eyes, which were still wide open; with a look of surprise and anger written across her face. She had put up a shockingly fierce fight, but she had lost. Of course she had lost. She should've just made things easier for herself and simply come along with me and Kisame as she had been told, Itachi thought as he ran his fingers through her sweat drenched hair. He took one last good look at the apartment that he and Kisame were temporarily being ordered to leave by their leader. It was pretty much trashed now anyways.

For a supposedly loyal leaf ninja, Hinata had seemed oddly contented staying with them and helping around the house, but had utterly panicked at the suggestion of leaving it and had refused to budge. She had seemed like such an obedient girl before. Sasuke must've taught her how to be stubborn, Itachi thought with a frown. They couldn't all stay there forever after all. Akatsuki was constantly moving about, and there was no way that he was leaving her in there alone. She belonged to him now, and nobody else. Still, Itachi hoped that she would forgive him. He really had never meant to hurt her at all.

"I think that we should just drop her off somewhere near Konoha and leave her there." Kisame said as he came out of the apartment and stood next to Itachi. "She's a nice, good old fashioned girl. The type that's hard to find these days." That's a funny thing to say when you're all covered in bruises from trying to control the girl, Itachi thought.

"We would only ruin her eventually." Kisame continued. "And besides, she would definitely want nothing to do with Akatsuki or its missions." Kisame nodded as he spoke, but Itachi wasn't even looking at him. He gently closed Hinata's eyes and turned towards Kisame.

"She has the scent and chakra of Akatsuki all over her now. If she wasn't accepted in Konoha before, then she certainly wouldn't be accepted back there now."

Kisame grunted and laughed. "It's so strange to see you playing the role of the overly protective older brother, Itachi. I'm sure that Sasuke would be filled with envy if he could see it." He would indeed be filled with envy, Itachi thought, but for completely different reasons. Itachi had never told Kisame that Hinata had been married. He found it hard to believe himself. She still seemed like an immature child that needed to be taken care of and watched constantly.

Kisame sat down on the grass, but quickly got back up as he couldn't find a comfortable position with the Samehada in the way. "She's too much of a bother to have tagging along all of the time. What if a team from Konoha comes looking for her? They went after your brother after all, and he did far worse I'm sure than whatever this shy little kitten did, so…"

"Could you please stop mentioning Sasuke? I really don't want to be reminded of him right now." Itachi interrupted. "And as for Hinata, no one will go looking for her if she's dead so stop worrying about it." He spoke casually as he draped Hinata over his shoulder instead of holding her gently and carefully as he had been doing before and began to walk back into the apartment.

Kisame's mouth went wide open and his skin went a lighter shade of blue. "You're not really going to…" He looked down, unsure of what to say next. "I didn't think that she was that much trouble. Maybe we should think about this first, uh, and what are we supposed to do with the body afterwards?"

Itachi rolled his eyes. "Leave it up to me, Kisame."88888

Hinata slowly opened her eyes, but it took a strange amount of effort and she felt numb all over her body. All that she saw was white at first. "Am I dead?" She wondered out loud.

"As of now, yes, you are." Itachi answered. Suddenly finding some strength, Hinata sat up quickly and realized that she was in bed, with Itachi standing in front of her. Her face went from pale white to deep red, and then pale again as she remembered what had happened before. Scattered, disorganized memories of fighting, attacking, and pain began to flash through her mind. What had gone into her? She wondered, but deep inside of herself, she knew exactly why she had behaved as she did.

As long as she stayed there and did nothing, she didn't have to feel guilty or ashamed. She could blame Sasuke and Konoha for all of her problems and go on living without having to face any of those problems. It had been a spineless and selfish choice, but she knew that following Itachi and Kisame and choosing to accompany them and possibly help them on any of their missions would be far worse. It would make her a traitor and would be the most shameful thing that she could ever do. Sasuke would definitely kill her if he knew. And I would deserve it, Hinata had thought with certainty.

So she decided to refuse, to fight back if they tried to force her to come along with them. And she had paid the consequence. She had been beaten pretty terribly and was lucky to be alive, even though part of her wished that she could have died. It would've made things much easier for me, she thought with little emotion.

"So are you going to kill me?" She asked in a dull tone of voice. Itachi smiled which made Hinata turn away. It reminded her too much of Sasuke and old times, times that she wanted to forget ever existed.

"No, that isn't necessary," he answered while placing a sheet of paper into her shaking hands. She blinked a few times and tried to focus on the words which seemed to be swimming on the paper at the moment. After she had rubbed her eyes and focused, she was deeply confused to realize that it was her own handwriting which she was looking at. She gasped and started to read. The words of the letter were:

I can't do this anymore. I want to be with my mother. My heart is broken. I don't want to stay another day on this same earth as the person who abandoned me, broke my heart, and made me crazy. Don't try to find me. I'll be gone from this earth.

It took a second for the full meaning of the words to register in her brain, but when it did, she could feel the shock and anger burning the blood in her veins.

"This is…is… supposed to be a suicide note!!! My suicide note!" The nerve of him, using her pain and emotions like that! She thought. Rage was causing her not to think clearly, and so she took the note and began hitting Itachi, who was now lying back on the bed beside her, with it. He only laughed flirtatiously and snatched the note from her hands.

"If you destroyed this one, I could write another one just as easily, though I think that it would be best to use this one seeing as you've just gotten your fingerprints all over it."

Hinata tried to calm herself down as her breathing was coming hard and heavy.

"I've done something like this once before, a long time ago." He said, relaxed, as if it were no big deal.

"You did it with the sharingan, didn't you!" She shouted. She felt as if she were beginning to feel the sickening stirrings of hate for the first time. Hinata often wrote when she was bored; nonsense poetry and such which she quickly threw away afterwards.

He must've watched me then, she thought. How horrible to have such a power. Sasuke and Itachi might as well kill each other and rid the world of the last traces of it, she thought quickly, before deep guilt filled her chest with a pain. Why am I thinking such horrible things? She wondered.

"You're kind of like me I guess." Itachi said. Hinata froze, wondering if he had read her mind or something of the like before he continued. "You're a spoiled princess, and you seem to like running away from your responsibilities." He sounds a lot like Neji used to, Hinata thought; annoyed. "If you're believed to be dead, then you can start your life over, and all of your old loyalties and responsibilities will mean nothing. Don't you like the sound of that?" He asked.

"People will be terribly hurt; I can't go along with that! It's sick!" She whimpered.

"You really do look like a spoiled princess now." Itachi said. "But really, you don't have much choice. The moment you bumped into me you ceased to belong to yourself."

She gave him a fearsome, hateful stare of the kind that would shock most people that she knew if they could see it. He didn't seem to be in the least bit affected by it. In fact, he seemed to find humor in it.

"If you wish to punish me for saying that, I'm really curious to see just how you plan to do it in this position." He whispered. Hinata realized then that she was on top of him, on the bed. She shrieked with embarrassment and ran to lock herself in the bathroom.

What a strange girl, Itachi thought while getting up and stretching. As he took another look at the crumpled note lying on the floor, he almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

"We'll be leaving soon," he called out to her, but not a sound came from the bathroom door. She'll come out soon enough, he thought confidently…

End of chapter 8

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Writer's block is such a bitch. I had no idea what to write but I knew that it was beter to just write anything rather than quit altogether, so yeah-sigh- I was inspired by the whole Shisui fake suicide note thing luckily. Also I skipped the fighting part because I suck REAL bad at writing parts like that. Being that I was raised mostly on shojo, all I can really write is angst and relationships and such…

Which is why I occasionally need your suggestions and such, I'm not perfect after all…

REVIEW


	9. Hate

It's me again, finally. Sorry I've been so busy lately. Anyways, I just had to throw in some one-sided KibaHina into this story because it adds drama, and because I think that Kiba is all kinds of smextacular-faints-

Disclaimer: Naruto and all characters © Masashi Kishimoto

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Everybody moves on with their lives eventually. Nobody is ever missed forever, Kiba thought as he stood in back of the ninja Academy and watched as the future protectors of Konoha occupied themselves with the silly and rowdy games of childhood, happily unaware of the raw pain that they'd probably be made to endure as they grew into adulthood. It wasn't like Kiba to have such a morbid train of thought, but he almost felt as if the whole world should completely stop smiling and functioning normally until he had his Hinata back. He childishly kicked at rocks while continuing to think about the previous events of the week.

Only a few days before, a rouge cloud ninja had been discovered spying in Konoha, hanging around near some seedy bar. After his arrest, a number of witnesses claimed to have seen him speaking with Hinata on the night before she went missing. Therefore, almost everyone had come to the conclusion that she had probably been kidnapped by Kumogakure once again, and was, in all likelihood, probably dead.

Kiba had refused to believe it. Completely. It seemed absurd to him. Even after harsh torture and interrogation, courtesy of Ibiki, the cloud nin still never confessed to having had anything to do with Hinata, and deep in his heart, Kiba knew that Hinata wasn't helpless. She had what it took to defend herself. Still, he had the feeling that most of the ANBU didn't want to waste their time looking for a girl who was likely already dead and that Tsunade would soon likely close the whole matter for a while. He and Akamaru had searched everywhere once they tracked her scent, but they just seemed to be walking in circles around it. It was suspicious and eerie, but he didn't have the time to fully investigate it. There were other missions that needed urgent attention. He couldn't look for her forever.

It killed him though, the feeling of not knowing. Of constantly having to wonder what had possibly happened. How in the world does Shino do it? He wondered. He knew that Shino likely felt the same way that he did. Only Shino knew how to successfully hide his emotions, while Kiba's feelings were visible to the entire world.

People generally avoided him now, which he didn't care. As long as I have Akamaru, I really didn't need anyone, he thought. He almost smiled at the irony of that thought. It was the kind of way he used to think before Hinata had entered his life, with her puzzling blushes and soft scents. Without her he had definitely regressed for the worst.

He was so lost in his musings; he didn't realize that the crowd of children was currently riding around on Akamaru's back. Their unashamed and rowdy laughter made him think of Naruto.

"Don't worry Kiba. When I'm Hokage, I'll bring her back. I promise! I brought Sasuke back after all!" He had said with an awkward grin. Sasuke.

How Kiba wished, desperately and passionately wished, that Sasuke had been killed by Orochimaru or one of those cursed Akatsuki, and had never stepped foot back in Konoha. God, how he hated having to hear his very name. And God, how good it felt to be able to hate him. It filled the empty void left by Hinata's absence and gave him something else to fill his thoughts with besides worry.

He felt no guilt in cherishing the feeling. In fact he felt completely justified in it. As her "husband," Sasuke was supposed to have watched her and protected her, but he had failed miserably. She would've been much better off had she married Neji or even himself.

The truth was, Kiba had always been crazy about Hinata, but he had never taken his own feelings for her seriously because he knew how much she idolized and respected Naruto. He had never taken it personally, as he optimistically figured that her childish crush would have to end eventually, and when it did, maybe he could take things with her to another level. But then Sasuke had to come back into the picture.

At first, Kiba had been enraged that Hinata's father and Tsunade would force her into a marriage for somebody whom she cared nothing for. How old fashioned and behind the times could they get? Who the hell arranges marriages anymore, he had thought. But all he could do was hold Hinata in his arms while she cried and mourned for the coming loss of her freedom; rocking her back and forth to comfort her. "Things will get better soon, I promise you," he had told her, trying to be optimistic about the whole thing. Trying to play the role of the ever hopeful "Naruto" for her. Only, the last thing that he had ever expected was for her to actually grow to love the man. And that was why he hated Sasuke with a flaming fervor, and would continue to do so, for as long as he was alive, and without Hinata.8888

Karin was fully aware of the fact that she didn't appear very intelligent to most people, even with her glasses on, but Orochimaru hadn't put her in charge of the North Base for nothing after all. She was far cleverer than she appeared to be, and she could sense when something just didn't seem to add up correctly. She had been able to see past the genjutsu that had been placed in order to hide the abandoned apartment and sense that the Hyuuga girl had left it recently. With others. So as she held the crumpled note in her hand and read it and reread it again, she felt little emotion besides a slight curiosity. She lay back on the empty couch in the abandoned wreck of an apartment and giggled to herself.

Could that quiet little Hinata possibly have been so obsessive about Sasuke that she threw someone out of their home, made a big mess of it, and then killed herself? Poor thing, Karin thought sarcastically. Such a pathetic act seemed more like something that she could imagine herself doing, but then again, Sasuke did have a habit of driving people half-crazy. Karin shook her head suddenly. Just because the girl's chakra was strong here didn't necessarily mean that she had carried through with it. Still she would tell Sasuke that his wife had indeed died.

Most people already thought that she was dead anyways so it wasn't like she'd be telling him anything new. Only she wouldn't tell Sasuke that it was his actions that might've driven Hinata to suicide. Being as mentally unbalanced as he was (much like herself), he might just kill himself then, and that was the last thing that Karin wanted him to do. She still cherished hope that he would one day choose her, once the pain of losing Hinata wore off, as it was bound to. She would tell him that Hinata had indeed been kidnapped, and had killed herself as a crazed and desperate means of escape from her cruel and heartless captors.

If he asked for proof, as he was most certainly going to do, she would tell him that any ninja hound could catch her scent almost everywhere in the place. And of course she would give him the note, well, part of it anyways, she thought with a wicked smirk.

She very carefully tore the note, so that only the words "Don't try to find me. I'll be gone from this earth," remained. . .

End of chapter 9

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Okay, okay people. Before I get a whole load of tomatoes thrown in my direction, I have to admit that I put very little time, thought, and effort into this chapter in comparison to all of the previous chapters, so it's not as good.-blush- I even took a few bizare artistic liberties-blush again-

I have a perfectly good excuse though. I've spent most of my free computer time this week debating with Hinata haters (yes, our dear Hinata-chan has haters). It went pretty well actually,lol. It didn't get to violent or nasty, but I will always defend Hinata against those who say bad things about her.

Anyways, I promise that the next chapter will be better…

REVIEW and don't be too harsh or I will cry,lol


	10. Blood

Chapter um, 10, I think? It's been awhile-blush-

Naruto and all characters © Masashi Kishimoto

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Sasuke was beginning to think that life was an endless parade of tortures, one right after the other, with no time to get past the ferocity of the many torments which came before. He closed his eyes while leaning against the door, grateful for the freedom of the darkness and emptiness which surrounded him as he did. Is this what death is like? He wondered. Is this what you're experiencing right now, Hinata? He thought. Nothingness?

Lately he had been developing a maddening habit of talking to her in his mind, and the more he tried to stop himself, the more he found himself doing it, much to his embarrassment. At first, he'd been seriously afraid for his own sanity, but then he realized that for most of his life, he had never been what one would call sane. Itachi had made sure of that.

He opened his eyes and looked at the blood all over his hands, on his face, and on his clothes, most of it dark and sticky, but some of it still bright red and running down as if it had been freshly shed; a morbid reminder of his latest assignment. Tsunade had grudgingly allowed him to go back on missions with ANBU so long as he was carefully watched so that he didn't try to escape from his village once again. He was surprisingly thankful for that.

However, his comrades often commented that he got a little too "into" his missions, resulting in a little too much uncontrolled bloodshed, but Sasuke paid them little attention.

This was mostly due to the fact that ANBU were expected to finish off their enemies quickly and cleanly, yet Sasuke vented out all of his frustrations on whatever poor, unfortunate soul they were ordered to capture or kill. The way he would have so gladly done to his own brother had he been given the chance.

The thought occasionally entered his mind during these missions that he could always just kill those who were watching him and be free to escape Konoha once again, to finally kill Itachi, and to kill Hinata's captors as well. He was sure that he was skilled enough to pull it off. The only thing that stopped him from committing such a crime was the knowledge that he'd be following in Itachi's footsteps by killing innocent people for selfish purposes.

So he now had pretty much nothing to live for other than those few sweet moments of violent release. At the moment, he didn't even have "reviving" his clan to worry about. Hinata was gone, end of story, and it would be proper to mourn her for at least a year or so, although he knew that he would still think about her every day, just as he still thought about his parents every single day. Just as he still thought about his cursed brother every single day. Or every minute more like, he thought with a shrug as blood dripped down to the wooden floor of his home.

"Uchiha-san!" For a moment, Sasuke was startled out of his thoughts to hear a high- pitched female voice greeting him home, until he remembered that he had hired a young girl, Hotaru, to take care of things around the house while he was gone. It was hard enough trying to find someone who was willing to work in the home of "cursed" Sasuke Uchiha. He had heard people talk in the streets when they thought that he wasn't listening.

"He's cursed you know. Everyone he loves ends up dying sooner or later. That's why he stays away from everyone." They would whisper while trying to sneak looks at him.

"Well I'll take my chances to get close to him," the occasional giggling fangirl would answer back, but Sasuke would have little to do with their kind. Even Karin had started to be too much for him to handle lately.

He had chosen Hotaru to stay with him in part because as a side branch member of the Hyuuga clan, she too had a "curse" that she was trying to escape from, and working for him was her way of temporarily escaping from her dark cage. He had another reason as well, though he would never admit it to anyone. When he looked into the girl's submissive white eyes, some of the loneliness left by Hinata's absence faded conveniently away, and he could imagine, if only for a moment, that things were as they had always been, and that nothing had ever changed.

He would hopefully always have a sweet and pretty Hyuuga girl to greet him in the morning, whether it was Hinata or not didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Or at least that was what he tried his hardest to believe.

But as Hotaru began to carefully wipe the blood from his face, he saw something else in her eyes. Something that he intensely hated. In her pale eyes, he could clearly see pity. He would've preferred fear, disgust, or anything else to that. He never, ever wanted to be the object of anyone's pity. Especially a woman's.

This woman in particular was especially deserving of his pity, what with that horrid seal barely hidden beneath her silky brown bangs. He no longer wished to look at her or be near her.

"You may go now Hotaru. I'll do the rest myself." He ordered her in a voice that came out harsher than he intended it to, but the girl took no offense. She was used to such behavior from others within the Hyuuga clan, and knew better than to argue when given an order. After a nod and a slight bow, she was gone as quickly as she had come; leaving Sasuke alone in a room that seemed far too bright and cheerful for his taste. The blood on his hands suddenly seemed so bright he could barely take it. He could taste it, smell it, just as he did on that horrible day when he was a child. Just as he did on the day when Karin coldly informed him about Hinata's end.

His heartbeat echoed loudly in his head and he wished that it would just stop. Stop completely. Forever. 8888888

Hinata struggled to get back up from the ground on her hands and knees. She could taste the sharp and bitter taste of blood in the back of her throat, but it didn't bother her one bit. She couldn't remember when the last time was that she felt so challenged and alive.

"Had enough yet?" Itachi asked while looking down on her with barely concealed surprise. She shook her head defiantly, wiped her bleeding face with her hand, and got back up, as her sister had done for her father all those years ago, and as she had desperately wished to be able to do for herself back then. With Itachi, she was becoming all that she had ever hoped to be. It was an addictive, floating sort of feeling.

She was aware that he was only training her like this in the hopes that she would join Akatsuki, which was suffering from a shortage of members due to a shockingly high death rate in battle. Indeed, some of their brightest talents had died years ago.

And so she went along with it. But in the back of her mind, she secretly hoped to try and escape him once she finally became strong enough.

Hadn't Sasuke used Orochimaru in such a way, she thought, becoming stronger before killing him and then leaving Otogakure to finally pursue his own goal? She wished to achieve something similar, only she had no desire to kill Itachi or anyone. She would leave that goal to Sasuke if he still had hopes of achieving it.

The only things that she wished for were freedom and strength of her own, two things that she felt she still had yet to experience. So with those thoughts fresh in her mind, she charged at Itachi, blissfully ignoring the sharp pains in her body and the blood staining her small, white hands.

END

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Okay, okay, I know it's been almost a month, but yes summer is over, meaning I have WAY less time to write. Hardly any, but I'm not giving up though.

I liked writing this anyways. Writing bloody, emo chapters is fun, lol. And there's an OC! Yay.

I tried to contrast Sasuke's feelings of hopelessness with Hinata's new sense op hope and purpose by tying it together with the blood or something of that sort. So I hope that at least one person likes reading it as much as I liked writing it. Probably not though. I got mixed reviews for that last one.

Anyways, I'm not quite sure where to take this story. ItaHina or SasuHina? I'm seriously torn. I started this out as an ItaHina in my head but I've read some really awesome SasuHina stories lately. They made me ashamed of my mediocre writing skills,lol

REVIEW!!! But don't be too mean. I can't handle harsh criticism,-giggle- I love you all, God bless-kiss-


	11. Mrs Uchiha

It's about time,lolz, chapter 11

Naruto and all characters © Masashi Kishimoto, okays

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"Looks like we just might finally have an assignment for you, Miss Uchiha."

"Huh." Hinata jumped up from her bed, tired and startled by Kisame's sudden appearance. He walked boldly around the bed and leaned frighteningly close to her face.

"You know, if I was still your enemy, I could've easily entertained myself by killing you in plenty of interesting ways right about now." Kisame said with a grin and a chuckle. Hinata rolled her eyes and slumped to the floor, still trying to get over the unpleasant shock of waking up to find a blue, shark faced killing machine smirking over her and trying her hardest not to make herself sick by imagining him shredding her to pieces just for the fun of it.

"What in the world is it?" She asked, while staring coolly at him and trying to do her best bored and uncaring Itachi imitation.

"Hmph." Kisame stared back at her, which made her even more tense.

"Trying to act all superior and princess-like while still in your underwear, eh? You stuck-up kekkei genkai types always have the biggest egos. You and Itachi are a good match, did you ever think of that? Even if you two are supposedly related."

Hinata began to blush furiously and quickly threw a blanket over herself.

"Much better, humility looks better on you than pride does" Kisame said with cocky satisfaction in his voice. "Anyways basically we'll finally be putting those sweet feminine charms of yours and gifted tracking skills to good use. I'll let Itachi tell you more about it when you're properly dressed." With those words he finally left the room. Hinata let out a relieved sigh and started to stretch. What was up with that? She thought to herself.

Sure, she felt grateful that Itachi was respectful enough to get her a room of her own at the inn where they were currently staying at in Wave Country, but didn't that give her a right to some privacy rather than having to worry about waking up to someone standing over her like in some sort of cliché horror movie? And what was it that Kisame had called her? Miss Uchiha?

Hinata tried in vain to swallow a frustrated scream that was threatening to burst out. Uchiha indeed. Some sort of Uchiha I ended up being, she thought caustically. She wasn't an Uchiha anymore, much as she wished she still was. She was just plain old miss Hyuuga again. As Mrs. Uchiha, she was considered by everyone to be a lucky and respected woman with a bright future ahead of her. As miss Hyuuga, she was considered to be a frightened little girl who liked to hide and run away. Perhaps I should use my "sweet feminine charms" on Itachi and get him to marry me, so that I can take on that name once again, she thought to herself only half sarcastically. Absolutely anything seemed worth becoming Mrs. Uchiha once again.8888888

Hinata found Itachi and Kisame outside waiting for her. They were shamelessly easy to find dressed as they were in full Akatsuki garb. She wondered why Akatsuki members didn't bother with trying to hide themselves by wearing something a little less obvious from time to time. Maybe it was out of pride or bravado, she thought while picking up her pace; or out of a desire to cause people to fear them. Well, they've certainly been successful at that, she thought to herself. Luckily, she hadn't been forced to dress like them yet, but she did have to wear mostly black or red when on missions with them, so that she'd be in their view at all times, even if she somehow managed to slip away.

It was awkward for her. Red had never suited her. She was used to wearing softer colors. She wasn't used to appearing so bold. What kind of girl must people think I am, traveling everywhere with those two? She wondered as she approached them. Certainly not a good girl, she was sure of that.

"Has Kisame been bothering you lately?" Itachi asked, his voice showing that he didn't really care either way while Kisame wore his usual smirk.

"Nn…not really, why?" She answered, caught off guard.

Itachi gave an annoyed stare at her stutter, which she ignored.

"Because you won't need to worry about him or even me for awhile," he said.

Hinata's eyes opened wide and she clenched her teeth to keep her jaw from dropping also. Were they going to leave her alone? That would be too good to imagine. It made things way, way too easy for her.

"Don't think even for one second that we're letting you go or even leaving you alone here," Itachi said, breaking into Hinata's thoughts and seeming to know her mind as usual, which made her feel exposed and uncomfortable. Hinata hated the way that Itachi seemed to know her more than anyone else ever did without even trying.

"Unless you want to be killed here and now, or be sent back to Konoha to be interrogated and tortured by that Ibiki, then you'd best forget about any escape plans," he continued.

Hinata's face went scarlet. "There are no escape plans," she answered in her most innocent tone of voice, but Itachi still appeared to be doubtful. He took her by the arm and led her further away from the curious gazes of any onlookers who might've been watching.

"Very well then, because what we have in mind for you is probably more difficult and of greater importance than any of the C and D ranked missions that your Hokage most likely entrusted you with," he explained coldly. Hinata looked down at the dirt and clenched her fists in frustration. Itachi also had a way of hitting her where it hurt the most.

It was a fact that in most missions in the past, Hinata had only been useful for her Byakugan, and Tsunade had known it. Even after she had worked herself to near death to earn her Chunin title, she was still often treated like a genin by her peers. Marrying Sasuke hadn't helped at all, as she was then treated as though her only purpose in life was to bring new Uchiha children into the world. Sadly, due to Hinata's fragile and shaky health, even that simple purpose had been too difficult for her to achieve, making her feel especially useless. Perhaps things would've been different if I had given Sasuke a child, she thought despondently.

Hinata sighed and looked away. It was too late for regrets and musings about the past now. It was thoughts like those that made her feel almost grateful to be free from her village and all of its expectations of who and what she should live her life like. Itachi took her chin into his hand and tilted her head back so that she was looking into his eyes once more while giving her a stare that effectively warned her to not get distracted again.

"Our leader's got quite an interesting list of possible Akatsuki recruits and underlings in the surrounding villages. Kisame and I will be busy with missions of our own, and our leader wouldn't want us to seem so desperate as to be trying to convince or force others to join us. Such methods may have worked in the past, but they would only seem pathetic now."

As if kidnapping your little brother's ex to take along with you on your more boring missions isn't pathetic enough already, Hinata thought scornfully.

"You get where this is leading, don't you?" Itachi asked as Hinata realized with some panic that she had stopped listening once again. "N…no I don't, she said, blushing. Damn it, a blush and a stutter all in one day, I thought I was over such childish behavior, she thought, disappointed with herself.

Itachi looked amused. "Surely you're not that slow. You are a woman, and therefore less intimidating and less likely to arouse suspicion. Most men would be willing to talk to you, rather than foolishly attack you or run away from you at first glance, as they would with us." Itachi made sure that he had Hinata's full attention before he continued.

"So, your job is to get close to them, seem as normal and innocent as possible before letting them in on the fact that they are wanted by Akatsuki. Make it sound as appealing as possible. Make them want to follow you, and then we'll deal with them afterwards." He made it sound as if it were the easiest job in the world. Hinata stood with her mouth open for awhile as Itachi and Kisame just stared expectantly at her; the oddly optimistic sound of birdsong being the only sound penetrating the awkward silence.

Finally, Hinata spoke up. "W…wait a minute. For Akatsuki to possibly be interested in these men; that means that they must be criminals."

"Well, that's obvious." Kisame said while looking at her as if she were the stupidest woman whom he had ever met, but Hinata kept on.

"Not only that, but they're probably highly skilled criminals with..."she looked shyly up at Itachi and Kisame, nervous about saying what she wanted to next.

"With"…Itachi said, prompting her to finish her statement.

She gave a nervous swallow before loudly speaking. "With bizarre and twisted minds. They're probably madmen who would do unspeakable things to me and kill me before they listened to a word that I had to say. This idea is…is…"

Hinata struggled to find the right words to say. "It's suicide, your trying to get me killed! I refuse!" She shouted.

Itachi smiled, a knowing, arrogant smile that sent shivers of dread running through her whole entire body. He slowly walked closer to her, and Kisame gave her a look that clearly seemed to say, "boy, are you in for it now."

"Stupid girl," Itachi whispered. "I don't need to 'try' to kill you. I could kill you with no blood spilled right at this instant. Anyone who found you would simply believe you dropped dead of a heart attack or something of the sort. You do have a weak heart after all, don't you?" He asked while stroking his fingers in circles round her chest.

Hinata felt completely frozen to the spot where she stood, trying to figure out a possible escape from this humiliation. Anger and loathing were starting to bubble up in her chest where his fingers were still slowly circling, as though he were purposely trying to make her as uncomfortable as possible in order to break her will.

I may indeed have a weak heart, but Itachi has a weakness also, his eyes. Hinata remembered with a flicker of hope. If I could possibly sever the flow of chakra there quick enough, perhaps I could blind him and get away. With that thought, she started to activate her Byakugan, but Itachi beat her to it, activating his sharingan first and attempting to trap her in a genjutsu.

Oh God, no! Hinata thought as darkness suddenly replaced the bright summer morning and she felt herself being pulled into another reality; knowing that she could face hours, maybe days, of punishment for refusing him, all in a matter of minutes. Her body then started to shake uncontrollably.

"A shinobi never refuses those in charge of them, always remember that." Hinata looked around in a panic but she couldn't even see Itachi. She screamed, but out of outrage and anger rather than from fear. She bit her bottom lip as hard as she possibly could, hoping that the sharp, intense pain would free her from the illusion.

I'm not living in the Hyuuga main house anymore, I'm no longer a child, she thought. So I shouldn't have to take punishments like one. She shut her eyes tightly and bit harder.

When she blinked once again, she was back outside of the inn. She heaved a deep sigh of relief, and it was then that she realized that blood was slowly dripping down from her lower lip. Suddenly dizzy, she began to collapse, but Itachi quickly held her up. As she started to regain her strength, she realized that Kisame was gone, and Itachi was standing there leaning against a tree as casually as if nothing at all had just happened in the last couple minutes. Such a two- sided personality, thought Hinata.

"Where is…," she began to ask, but Itachi held a finger to her lips to silence her. As he did so, the scarlet color spread throughout her lips, so that her mouth looked alluringly painted, like a geisha's.

"Beautiful," he whispered before unexpectedly overwhelming her with a kiss. What a strange method of punishment, thought Hinata, as she gasped for breath while slipping in and out of consciousness. 888888888

The summer sun was beating down oppressively over Sasuke as he panted and wiped the sweat from his face.

"Too much for you?" Naruto asked him; mischievously giggling in that especially annoying way that only he knew how.

"No." Sasuke grunted coldly while giving him a hard look. Truth be told, he had been planning to spend the whole day lying lazily in bed, but when Naruto invited him over for a quick spar, he couldn't resist. He figured that beating the hell out of the lively blonde might be a good way to kill an afternoon and that Naruto would make the best kind of target to vent his frustrations out on.

Naruto has dreams and a future to look forward to, he thought as he aimed a violent blow to Naruto's face, which he carefully dodged. He has Sakura by his side, he thought as he pushed Naruto hard onto the dirt.

When the two had first formed a friendship, Naruto had nothing, while everyone assumed that Sasuke would one day have everything a shinobi could ever wish for. The tables had definitely been turned with time, Sasuke realized with an agonizing pang of jealousy.

While he was being distracted by his thoughts, Naruto had quickly gained an upper hand in their fight. He looked down pensively as Sasuke got up and brushed away the dirt clinging to his clothes.

"Let's take a break." Naruto said loudly, as if Sasuke were standing ten feet away from him, though he might as well have been, mentally.

He gave a small nod in reply, and Naruto led him over toward a place to sit.

"You know, Sasuke, you don't even really 'try' anymore. I think that you're seriously lacking in motivation these days." Naruto waited for a reply, but Sasuke only looked away. What, am I Shikamaru now? He thought; annoyed.

"If you were just a little more motivated, I think that no one else would even be able to touch you, except for me of course." Sasuke gave Naruto a hard, stony glance before again looking away. That just didn't sound right, Sasuke thought, getting even more annoyed as Naruto continued on with his pesky giggle yet again, but Naruto's face turned surprisingly serious within a matter of seconds.

"You know," he said looking down while kicking at the dirt. "I loved her too." He didn't even have to say her name. Sasuke knew who he meant. And he didn't want to have to hear another second of it. He got up and began walking away, hoping that Naruto would get the hint and just leave him the hell alone for once.

He didn't of course, and was quickly by Sasuke's side once again. Is he going to try and remind me? Sasuke wondered almost fearfully. About how they were happy together, he and Hinata, before her father broke them apart because of me? About how her whole life would've gone perfectly if I had never barged back into the picture? The way that Sakura and his life together is going perfectly right about now? Well, I'm not going to listen to any of it, he decided. I've heard enough from Kiba and Neji as it is. I'll kill him first.

"Why are you being so paranoid, Sasuke, I'm not trying to preach at you or anything." Naruto was now standing in front of Sasuke with a pleading, puppy dog kind of expression on his face. Damn you, Sasuke thought, wondering what Naruto would think of him if he had known how things had really ended between him and Hinata.

"Then hurry up and say what it is that you want to say," he snapped back in an icy tone of voice.

"What I'm trying to say is…well…that what happened to her, it doesn't have to be for nothing. That is…your motivation." Naruto was nervously stumbling over his words in an effort to find the right thing to say.

"How can she be my motivation if she's dead," Sasuke said in a much colder voice than he had expected to. Naruto's face fell instantly. Damn it, Sasuke thought. Does everybody mourn her more than I do? Is that even possible?

"What I mean, Sasuke, is that we can make sure that what happened to her doesn't happen to anyone else ever again in Konoha or in any other village. You especially should be able to understand that. Your father was in Konoha's police force, wasn't he?"

How many dead people was Naruto planning to bring up in one day, Sasuke wondered; growing more and more impatient.

"You're too idealistic for your own good, Naruto. Even if the security of Konoha is increased , how on earth do you expect to get in on the other villages' business?" Sasuke answered.

Naruto broke into an exuberant smile. "I thought you'd never ask. Tsunade has this new mission for us…"

Oh God, this is what he was trying to get at all along. Sasuke realized.

"…we're working with some of the other villages in an effort to stop a possible Akatsuki revival by hunting down possible recruits before Akatsuki can get to them and then possibly luring them…"

Sasuke seemed to spring to life at the mention of Akatsuki, even though he still didn't see what any of it had to do with Hinata.

"Go on." He ordered now that he was finally interested.

"Kiba will be coming along, and possibly Neji," Naruto continued. Ah, the two people I would just love to see most right now, Sasuke thought sarcastically.

"So what do you think? It will be just like old times." Naruto said, his face full of hope. Sasuke turned towards him.

"I'll think about it," he said before finally escaping.

END OF CHAP. 11

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-ducks under my chair- I'm SOOO sorry that I haven't updated in a month but I had started to run out of ideas so I decided to take a short break but I made up for it by making this one twice as long as most of the other ones.; I wish that it were more exciting or something though but at least it looks like Sasuke and Hinata might possibly run into each other soon. So yay.

But yeah, I wrote most of it while I was half asleep (please excuse any typos-faints-) so that's why it's kinda…I dunno, weird. Like…

ME: Oh my gosh, Itachi! Get your hands off Hinata-chan's chest!

Itachi: But I can't help myself.

ME: WHA!!! -chases him around with a fan-

Review as always, luvs. I missed reading all your reviews, even the not so good ones, lolz XD


	12. narcotic

Naruto and all characters © Masashi Kishimoto

Sorry for the delay……

Hinata awkwardly adjusted her dress, uncomfortable with the amount of skin which she was uncharacteristically baring and hoping that no one was staring at her.

Good God, how I hate places like this, she thought to herself, but as her eyes struggled to make sense of her surroundings in the smoke filled tavern, she realized that the majority of its inhabitants were in too much of a narcotic induced stupor to take any notice of her or her dress.

She let out a relieved sigh that seemed to mix in with the smoky fog around her for that, as she had left her Akatsuki clothes behind before arriving, and was currently feeling very much naked and vulnerable as a result.

As much as she had originally hated having to be forced into wearing them, she had to admit that they had made the task of traveling through unfamiliar villages and countries far easier than she could've ever imagined. The bamboo hat had effectively hidden her identity as a Hyuuga, and when anyone managed to cross paths with her, she was met with fear, respect, and with the poor terrified souls pleading with her not to kill them.

She smiled slightly while thinking about it as it was a bizarre and heady experience for her, being feared. However, in a place such as she was in, her aim was to appear as harmless and inviting as possible rather than dreaded.

She was currently in Lightning Country, in a seedy area in an otherwise flawlessly beautiful country, frighteningly close to Kumogakure, where she would have ended up and most likely died had her childhood captor succeeded in kidnapping her. However, she wasn't afraid. What difference would it make any more if she was captured again; whether she lived or died. She was simply a tool for Itachi or anyone else that wanted her. She no longer had a purpose other than that which was given to her, and she was being given the chance to see the world rather than to be confined to the services of one village. Or of one specific person in that village, she thought, willing herself to not even bring up his name in her mind. That time in her life meant nothing now.

She casually scanned the opium den as best as she could in the haze before finally finding her prey; a rather scruffy and unshaven looking young man in a clean, expensive suit that didn't quite seem to match him very well. Okura was his name, she remembered from the list. Okura something or other. And he was possibly a jinchuuriki, though that could've been just a rumor that he spread about himself in order to gain notoriety.

Still, that fact nearly froze Hinata right where she was standing in the middle of the room; paralyzing her with guilt and shame at what she was doing. This unfortunate man had been rejected from his village and had few other options in life other than getting high and making money off of other people getting high. And he sure did make a lot of it. Anyone who dared get in between him and his money, she had been told, quickly ended up dead under mysterious circumstances.

Unluckily for him, getting between him and his money was just what Akatsuki planned on doing; using him for his money and possible killing skills before finally disposing of him and testing to see if there was any truth in the jinchuuriki rumors. People like him were considered expendable by Akatsuki, and Hinata was supposed to be the enticing bait which would reel him into this trap. Hinata shivered in spite of the heat, wondering if she too would eventually be considered to be expendable and unnecessary.

Ignoring her misgivings, she strode right on towards him, heels softly echoing in the silence. When she boldly slid in to sit next to him, she sensed some tenseness, but when he turned towards her, he gave her an impressed, wide-eyed stare as if she were the first beautiful woman whom he had ever laid eyes on in his life. Hinata felt flushed in spite of herself.

"You sure look young, beautiful. Sneaking out to get some thrills behind your parents back?" He asked in a deep, raspy voice.

Hinata forced her red lips into an annoyed pout. As she stared back at him, she could clearly see from the look in his eyes that he was mentally undressing her and touching her, among other things. She didn't need her byakugan to know that. And she didn't like it one bit.

He gave a throaty laugh when he noticed her expression. "Don't want to be treated like a baby anymore, I see. So what'll it be, are you looking for a job here?"

"Despite what you may think about me, I'm not here for anything like that but to talk about something that might possibly interest you."

Okura frowned. "I don't like talking much, and I can think of only one thing that would interest me at the moment," he said with a lecherous grin. "But if you insist on it." He then leaned back and lit a cigarette, which stood out in the sea of all the pipes. The motion and scent of it immediately reminded Hinata of Kurenai, of how Kiba used to say that she smelled of a strange mixture of flowers and cigarette smoke after her many nightly visits with Asuma, back when he was alive.

That memory filled her with a longing for that time she had been trying so hard to convince herself meant nothing. The time when team 8 had been her whole world before adult responsibilities were thrust upon her against her will. The time when she could always count upon Kiba and Shino to protect her from the harsher realities of life. How are their lives right now? She wondered. Would they hate me if they saw me now?

Okura, misinterpreting her needy expression, then lit her a cigarette, which she accepted mindlessly.

"Well, I was thinking that it's about time that you got away from all of this," she said looking at the intoxicated people around with well acted disdain and boredom, "for something much more exciting and profitable in the long run. You're wanted for bigger things than this. Your talents are worth so much more."

Suspicion suddenly came over Okura's plain features.

"So somebody sent you here." Hinata smiled innocently, or at least she tried to.

"Who." He asked rather rudely.

"Akatsuki." She answered back, as if she had nothing at all to hide.

He looked down nervously, drumming his fingers on the table.

"I've heard of them. They're all a bunch of freaks, I here. And I left all shinobi connections behind a long time ago, and besides, your eyes, they frighten me."

"Huh"? Hinata muttered, bewildered.

"I've heard of those white eyed ninjas from Konoha was it?" He said while looking up, trying to jog his memory. "I could make plenty more money on you if I dragged your cute little arse down to Kumogakure, where they've been dying to study that eye technique that you're supposed to have. What was it called again?"

Hinata tried to look composed but she was starting to go crazy with nerves. What on earth am I supposed to do from here? She thought.

"Don't worry about it miss, like I said, I don't want to get myself involved back in that world again. This way of living is much easier." he said with a laugh, interrupting her thoughts. "But as for Akatsuki, I'm afraid I don't believe you. You're trying to get me into a trap, just like that other white eyed kid and his friends who were after me earlier." He threw her an accusing glance while he continued to speak. "I got away from them luckily," he said with pride, "and now they think that they can trap me with some scantily clad little girl. So you can go on back home with them if you want, unless of course you'd rather be leaving with me."

Hinata's eyes suddenly became wide and alert. She completely forgot about her cigarette, which had burned to the filter, and suddenly was hit by a massive headache.

"W…w…what do you mean? Somebody else was after you?"

Oh God, they can't be around here. If someone whom I know sees me, I swear that I'm going to kill myself, she thought with a sick feeling of dread twisting her up inside.

She unconsciously closed her eyes, desperately praying that somehow she'd get through all of this nonsense without Neji or anybody else finding out about her, and without disappointing Itachi, whom she hated to admit as she remembered the shocking feeling of his lips pressed hard against hers and of his hands catching her fainting body; was probably her only remaining ally in this world. She would have nothing without him. She had to get through this successfully, it was easy enough. If talking didn't work, she was aware that getting the guy unconscious was easy enough and that all she had to do was somehow get him dragged back to Akatsuki.

Filled with renewed confidence and a sense of reassurance, Hinata opened her eyes, only to find that somebody else had already beaten her to the goal of getting Okura unconscious. She gasped and brought her hands to her mouth as she noticed his head resting lifelessly on the table.

"That's some dress you've got on Hinata. I can't wait to see everybody's faces back home when they see you in it." The voice was sickeningly familiar.

"N..n..Neji nii-san?" She whispered weakly, not daring to turn around.

"Follow me." He ordered. Whenever he spoke to her like that, she was always powerless not to obey, and so she did as she was told, following him to the back door while feeling full of regret and defeat.8888

Hinata held onto Neji tighter than she had ever held onto anyone in her whole life. She couldn't bring herself to speak actual words, only deep, mournful sobs. He responded by tilting her head up towards him and looking into her eyes, which were nearly identical to his own, and they stayed like that for awhile. She hadn't expected to miss him so strongly, but he was her family, her blood, despite everything he had ever said or done to her. Such bonds couldn't be so easily set aside, even if she had wanted them to be.

"Hinata-sama." He said with his voice shaking. "I'm here on a mission, but I never once expected to find you around here. Everyone was sure that you were dead. How on earth did you end up here? Did those bastards from Cloud Village take you again? Come, let's get you home."

Hinata almost felt like smiling. Her cousin had never shown so much concern for her before. It was a nice feeling, but still her heart was beginning to break already knowing what she had to do. She shook her head.

"No, they didn't get me, Neji, but I can't go back with you. Please, forget that you saw me in this place."

Neji turned back to her with disbelief written on his features.

"But, why? I'm not going to take no for am answer, Hinata. You don't belong around here. This is not you."

She could never let him know that she had no desire to go back home in the first place, but she really was in danger if Itachi knew that she had spoken with him. She looked around apprehensively.

"It's in Konoha where I no longer belong. You don't know what's happened to me all this time, and promise me you won't try to find out, but all that I'm going to tell you is that I can't go back there anymore, but I won't be staying here much longer either, so don't worry about me. Forget that you ever knew me."

Neji's expression changed from surprised to angered.

"I'm not like Sasuke and the others. I could never forget you. I'm going to drag you back home, if I have to, Hinata, whether you like it or not. The mission can wait."

When Neji used to speak in such a way to Hinata, she used to completely break apart, but now, she knew that she could deal with it easily. However, his comment about Sasuke seeming to have forgotten about her wasn't as easy for her to stomach.

"If you try to do that, I'll kill myself, right here and now if I have to. Just leave me, please!" She had started out her sentence whispering, but ended it in a desperate scream. "You'd only be forcing me back into a cage." She said, whispering once again.

"I've learned how to deal with living in a cage. It's part of growing up, and it's very cowardly of you to run away." He said coldly, while beginning to grab her arm and lead her away. She tried to pull away, but she couldn't. It was as if she had lost all strength in his presence, just as she always used to. What about my training? She thought. I thought that I had changed but I'm still such a disappointment. She could only imagine the emotional torture that awaited her back in Konoha.

She would be treated like an ex- criminal, even though she hadn't yet earned her Akatsuki ring. People would talk about her behind her back; her family would probably disown her. Naruto and her teammates would be shocked and dissapointed, while Sasuke would most likely be thrilled to finally have an official excuse to hate her. She really did have only one person possibly on her side now. "I'm so sorry Itachi", she whispered so softly that to Neji, it sounded only like the beginnings of a small sob.

END OF CHAPTER

Oh my Lord, I know that some of you are totally wanting to stick pins into me right now. I'm really sorry for neglecting this story, it's just that I took a break to write my ItaHina one-shot Full Circle (read and review,lolz!) and some other stories that I'm still not finished with (look for those soon) and kind of forgot about this one. –blush-

But I've missed you all and your helpful comments. I've been reading some of your stories as well. It's helped to keep me motivated.

I hope you all like this chapter, it's kind of weird, but I have a strange fascination with opium dens.

There should be lots more ItaHina in future chapters.

REVIEW!!


	13. Cousins

Please don't hate me, people

Characters © Masashi Kishimoto

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Neji tried his hardest not to stare at the young woman beside him as he roughly led her away. She was nearly unrecognizable to him in many ways, and it was only by her eyes that he was able to recognize her as being his own blood cousin.

Shy, submissive, sweet; those had always been the first words that came to his mind when he thought of her, but he couldn't see anybody in their right mind choosing any of those words for her were they to see her as she appeared at the moment: sulky, made-up, and very obviously resentful of him for what he was doing to her. She made it very clear what she was feeling about him with some scorching glances in his direction, so different from her tearful happiness and relief just a few minutes before. Neji just couldn't bring himself to stare back at her though, and was grateful for the darkness which the night provided.

For far too many years Neji had enjoyed staring hatefully at her at every chance he got in order to prove to her just how strongly he disliked her. He had loved to watch her fall apart, to feel like he had control over at least one thing in his life, but now that he was being given the same treatment, he wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to take it. He was almost frightened of taking her back home, and of having to deal with her and all the unpleasant emotions that he associated her with in his mind.

For a split second, he toyed with the idea of letting her go, of letting her run away as he used to wish that he could. Run away, screw up your life here, and die alone if that's what you want to do. See if I care, he thought to himself.

However, he knew that he couldn't just follow through with that sort of simple thinking, despite how badly he wanted to. After so long, he still felt a strong need to protect her from harm, although he no longer had any real obligation to.

"H..H..Hinata." He brought himself to say, finally working up the courage to stare at her once again. Now I'm the one who's stuttering, he thought with both amusement and annoyance. Hinata didn't answer him back though, but instead turned and tilted her head towards him, seeming equally surprised by his obvious uneasiness.

"I'm not going to ask you this again. What is it that you're doing here? I think that it would probably be best for you if I know before your father and everyone else in the village get word of it," he said while trying to stare her down and to regain his usual confidence. He waited impatiently for a response, but Hinata surprised him by burying her face lovingly into his shirt.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now," she whispered slowly, so that her breath tickled his throat and her chest brushed against his as she spoke. "Just leave me alone about it, please. I'm not a child anymore." Neji tried hard to catch his breath and abrubtly pulled away from her.

Oh, damn her, he thought almost aloud. He was almost completely sure that she was only trying to toy around with his emotions in order to gain sympathy and to escape having to face the consequences of whatever shocking predicament she had managed to get herself sucked into. As if that would really work with me, he thought, because in spite of his initial reaction, he still liked to imagine that he had little or no emotions left inside of him for anyone to toy around with.

However, as he stared at Hinata with the moonlight seeming to outline everything that was beautiful and striking about her, he was finding it to be increasingly difficult to think properly, and so he was forced to look away again in order to clear his mind.

Hinata mistook the gesture as Neji giving up on trying to reason with her, and made a quick move to get away from him, but he was back in front of her almost as soon as the thought entered her mind, with his old familiar cocky smile back on his face.

"What do you want from me?" Hinata shouted, shocking both herself, and the crowds of midnight pleasure seekers passing through the streets.

"I want absolutely nothing from you, Hinata. Feel free to go exactly where you wish for the time being."

"R..really?" Hinata asked, still appearing unsure and unwilling to trust him. Neji gave a slow nod in reply.

"Looking at you like this, I realized that you are completely right. It's none of my business what you are doing, but I'll be sure to tell that good for nothing, darling husband of yours all about it." Neji's tone was harsh and mocking in a way that he hadn't used with her in quite some time. He never thought that he would need to be that way with her again.

"It will be entertaining to see how he reacts, and then he'll go after you and Konoha will be free of him once again for awhile." Neji didn't make any attempt to hide the contempt in his voice. It had been no secret that he resented the Uchiha for the way in which he shamelessly returned to the village only to be rewarded with Hinata as a wife rather than receiving the punishment which he so obviously deserved.

Neji began to walk away, planning to forget all about having seen Hinata, just as she had told him to do. The cousin he used to know really was dead. He'd just let Sasuke deal with the whore that she had become. Who knows? He thought to himself. It might just prove to be a fitting punishment for him after all. Hinata breathlessly caught up with him and beckoned him to a more secluded area behind an old and rundown teahouse.

"Don't," she said in a voice dripping with fear, "don't mention anything to Sasuke."

Neji smiled. Maybe now Hinata would do some real talking instead of avoiding the real issues.

"I ran away for him. I did it all for him." She said, her face looking surprisingly calm, except for a small tear forming in the corner of her eye.

"So you mean to tell me that you ran away to another village, made everyone who cared about you think that you were dead, and put your whole clans' secrets in danger for someone who really doesn't give a damn about you? Explain."

Hinata paced around, poking her fingers together and avoiding his eyes, just as she used to in her younger days.

"He doesn't love me."

"I could've told you that a long time ago," Neji replied. "So what does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything." She answered. "Sasuke was never allowed to leave the village and go after what he really wanted. He felt trapped because they were making him stay with me, when he never even wanted me in the first place. Surely you could understand…"  
"Don't even dare try to compare the two of us," Neji interrupted.

Hinata looked nervously around as if making sure that nobody was listening, sighed and continued speaking.

"I thought that if I left, then maybe I could help him by finding out where his brother was, while freeing him from myself at the same time. At the same time, I've always been curious about life outside our village; I've always wondered if there were other things that I've been missing out on."

"That's the most idiotic thing I have ever heard in my life." Neji grabbed Hinata hard by the shoulders, desperately wanting to shake her for a good couple of minutes. The nerve of the little bitch, thinking that she could go wherever the hell she wanted based on a couple of childish, idiotic whims about love and freedom.

"I always knew that there was something a little off in that head of yours, but now I know that you truly are more insane than I had ever imagined."

"Think what you want, but if you say anything to Sasuke or anyone else, I swear to you that it will be just as if you were tying a rope round my neck." Neji smiled at her words.

"Hinata, you can threaten to kill yourself all you want, but you forget that you're still only a mere chunin. If I have to, I can simply defeat you and then drag you unconscious back home, where you'll be closely monitored till the day you die and won't have to burden others or yourself with your foolish ideas ever again."

"I see, so that's how it is," whispered Hinata as she grabbed what looked like a kunai hidden in one of the folds of her dress. Neji braced himself for a fight, but was surprised to see her bringing it to her own throat. He quickly reached to stop her, trying to wrestle it away from her, and causing both of them to lose their balance and fall to the ground. Neji was definitely starting to feel like he had had enough of his newly headstrong cousin when he saw that she appeared to be laughing.

Before he could say a word and accuse her of insanity yet again, she grabbed him by the hair and planted a particularly deep and experienced kiss on his still open mouth.

What in the hell is she thinking, he thought, while he was still able to think, before her hands reached towards his throat and he stopped thinking completely.

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Okay. I have one basic thing to say here and that is a big fat, I'M SORRY!!

I really am extremely sorry, I could bow for about an hour,lolz. I'm not going to attempt to make any excuses (title name, hehe) this time around. I'm only going to be honest and say that I had kind of lost enthusiasm and motivation for this story and am currently in the process of writing a few other Akatsuki based stories.

However, I always try to keep updating stories for as long as I know people are interested in them. So if any of you are still even the least bit interested in this, I will try my hardest to keep it going.

I also apologize for this chapter being so short and weak. As I said, it was really hard to muster up enough motivation for even 500 words…-faints-

Oh, and by the way, this is NOT, I repeat, NOT, a NejiHina chapter. She was only trying to distract him before rendering him unconscious, so yeah. No anti- NejiHina complaints. I might even try to throw in a little more action and battle scenes in further chapters if I'm up to it, to balance out any possible romances.

So read and review, I love you alls and I'll see what I can do about this and other stories in the future.

Sincerely, Geisha XD


	14. Darkness

Ok, luvs, I'm attempting for possibly the last time to see if I can resurrect this story from the dead, so here goes nothing…

Naruto and all characters© Masashi Kishimoto

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Hinata sank to the ground on her knees, breathing hard as she was flooded by strong feelings of exhaustion and relief. However, she didn't dare to close her eyes for even a brief rest; instead she turned her head fretfully from side to side as a frightened whimper escaped from her lips.

Somewhere in the corner of her mind, she couldn't shake off the unsettling feeling that she and Neji had been, and were still being, closely observed, despite the fact that the streets of the small village had been unusually empty for most of the long night, as most people had either stayed shut safely in their homes, or were too deep in the middle of their own secret, prohibited amusements to care about what trouble a young man and woman out alone on the streets were getting themselves into.

That fact, however, failed to ease her mind of the shame that she was finally starting to feel as she began to see herself the way Neji had seen her. Stained. Childish. Slightly mad. She certainly looked the part of a madwoman now that her knees and hair were practically embedded with dirt from when Neji had wrestled her to the ground, and her supposedly alluring and sophisticated black dress was now torn in a couple of highly awkward places, causing her skin to go all red and blotchy with her old familiar blush of embarrassment.

At least I'm still able to blush, she thought. That shows that there is still some of the old me left inside, from before I let myself get tangled in all of this mess.

"I'm so sorry, nii-san," she whispered as she lovingly kissed and caressed her still unconscious cousin's pale cheek, but as soon as the words left her mouth she knew that she really didn't mean them at all.

He lay on the ground close beside her, still breathing, eyes still just barely open in shock, but out cold nonetheless, and while watching him, Hinata thought back to the sudden kiss, an act so unexpectedly natural and instinctive, but one which had shocked her deeply. Once she had started, it had been almost impossible for her to stop herself as her hands had moved almost of their own accord to manipulate his chakra points, quickly draining him and weakening him second by second while he stayed there completely powerless and let her do whatever she wanted to him rather then let go and let the kiss, and all the stirring feelings that came along with it, end prematurely.

Hinata smiled. Neji had always been too busy with some duty or other to pay much attention to women, and as a result of that he had very little experience with them. She on the other hand had been married against her will at a very young age, and because of that, she had more experience in dealing with men than she had ever even cared to have. And so for once she was finally able to use Neji's own inexperience at something to her own advantage. Neji the unbeatable. Undone by such a simple, foolish thing as a kiss, and Hinata was finally given the chance to taste what it was like to have complete control over another person.

So why do I still feel so powerless right now? She thought while clutching at her cold arms and legs protectively in a futile attempt to lose the unpleasant sensations of feeling as though a pair of eyes were staring at her from somewhere that she couldn't see, crawling over her barely covered, shivering body. She desperately needed to do something, anything, as just sitting there in the dark stupidly waiting for something to happen seemed like a form of agonizing torture.

But what on earth am I supposed to do now? She wondered as she instinctively activated her byakugan in order to get a clearer view of her dark surroundings.

With all the time that had passed, going back after Okura again was almost certainly a lost cause; a fact which greatly worried her as there was no predicting how Itachi would react towards her failure to fully satisfy Akatsuki's demands. As if that weren't enough, Neji's presence was still a problem as she wasn't comfortable with just selfishly leaving him there; although she did realize that he was probably only mildly injured and was perfectly capable of taking care of his own self whenever he came to.

If Hinata had learned anything over the last few weeks, it was that she needed to think and care more about her own self rather than always putting the needs of others before her own if she ever hoped to survive in such an indifferent world.

Get up, leave this place! She silenly screamed at herself from inside of her head. In response, she clumsily attempted to stand up, but sudden lightheadedness caused her to back up and collapse against a nearby tree. Her arm was scratched and dripping fresh blood, but she felt strangely grateful to have something to rest her throbbing head on, and the sudden pain and blood on her arm only warmed her of the cold, freezing feeling that had been bothering her all night long.

And so, she finally decided to temporarily let go of her fears and worries, leaned back, and let sleep close her eyes; never once feeling the hands which carefully grabbed her, pulling her away with barely a sound.

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"Hinata-sama…" Neji whispered out loud, without really understanding why. He hesitantly opened one of his eyes only to quickly shut it closed again when harsh sunlight poured mercilessly into his eyes. He rubbed at them both and sat up before he looked around only to find himself lying down in a hard, unfamiliar bed in an even more unfamiliar room. However, Hinata's face, as well as the shocking sweetness of her kiss, were both stamped as firmly into his mind and senses as if she had still been there with him just a moment before rather than many, many hours ago. "What in the hell is going on here?" He thought with an increasingly rising sense of irritation that intensified as he tried to get himself out of the bed only to find himself so weakened that he could barely manage to untangle himself from the mess of blankets which he was practically buried under.

"Hey, you're finally awake! See, Sasuke. I told you he wasn't dead." Naruto sat roughly on the bed, followed by Akamaru, who also jumped onto the bed with a joyful bark; causing Neji to feel bombarded by all of the attention. He buried his head in his hands, as if to block it all away. Akamaru took a couple of quick sniffs at him and suddenly began barking even more enthusiastically than before, and causing Kiba to come running into the small room. To Neji's annoyance, he also plopped down onto the bed.

"Good to see that you're okay. We felt really bad about not being there to help you out, but really, who would've thought that some upstart criminal would prove to be such a problem. Maybe we should've brought a medic over with us."

They think that Okura did this, Neji suddenly realized, and at the same time decided that he should go along with that rather than to tell them the truth. He would rather have them believe Hinata was dead than to have her reputation tarnished in front of those she had once loved the most, regardless of whether they had been worthy of that love or not, he thought with a frown as he looked over at Sasuke, who was sitting in a corner completely uninterested and detached from everything that was going on around him.

"Quit spacing out and tell us what you can remember!" Naruto shouted, interrupting Neji's brief moment of mindlessly loathing the useless Uchiha. Neji nervously turned his head away from Naruto.

"I can't remember much, really," he lied. "It wasn't Okura that got me though, it was somebody else, another Akatsuki member, I think. I never really got a chance to get a good look at them," he continued.

"Hey that doesn't make any sense!" Kiba yelled while abruptly sitting up. "With your byakugan, wouldn't you have seen somebody else coming before they ever had a chance to catch you off guard?"

Neji shrugged in response, suddenly unable to come up with a quick or clever answer. He was beginning to remember the feel of Hinata's arms around him; how she seemed so much stronger than before and yet so much more soft and vulnerable at the same time.

"It was a girl, wasn't it," Naruto whispered into Neji's ear, nearly causing him to fall off of the bed with surprise.

"What would give you a stupid idea like that, Uzumaki?" Neji asked, attempting to sound calm and in control of the situation.

"Oh, I dunno, a hunch I guess."

Neji lay back down, hoping they'd all get the hint and leave him alone for awhile.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. "You even smell like a girl. Doesn't he Kiba?"

"That's probably just because of all the shampoo that he has to use to wash that girlish long hair of his," Kiba answered with a teasing grin, which both Naruto and Neji ignored.

"So you fell for some girl during the mission and her wannabe Akatsuki boyfriend got you. Did I guess right?"

"I would quit the guessing games right now if I was you," Neji replied in his most threatening tone of voice. Naruto rolled his eyes back in reply.

"Okay, I get it, we'll stop pressing you for now, but you'd better start talking when you're up to it."

Sasuke suddenly stood up from where he was sitting, causing all eyes on the room to turn in his direction.

"If Neji is awake, then we should get moving. It's not like we've got the money to be sitting around wasting time in some inn."

"Yeah, he's ri…" Before Naruto could finish his sentence, Neji was up and had left the room with no more words, only a hard look in Sasuke's direction, which he returned all too eagerly, and within a few seconds they had all left the room. Kiba however stayed behind, as if glued to the bed, with his eyes staring blankly ahead at the wall.

"Are you coming Kiba?" Naruto shouted from up ahead, followed by a couple of barks from Akamaru.

"Yeah, just give me a minute, kay!" He reluctantly shouted back and got up to follow them, still wondering the reason why it was that when Neji got up to leave the room, Hinata's own undeniable scent followed him so strongly, as though she had been in that very room with them at that exact moment. It was the same scent that he had memorized from years of knowing her.

Kiba shook his head in an attempt to forget the scent and how it had affected him. She was gone now, he thought to himself. It was all in his head. It had to be.

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Zetsu held the young woman in his arms in a way that to any random observer would appear to be tender and affectionate, but in reality what he felt as he held her was a kind of unbearable and burning anticipation. She was so full of such pale, beautiful, plump flesh; and she smelled so sweet that he could barely keep himself from biting into her long, pale throat. She was bound to taste unforgettable, he thought as he mentally argued with himself over what should be done with her.

_We should just finish her completely right here and now and then tell Itachi that she ran away and got herself killed, forcing us to get rid of her body._

'_No, he'd never buy that; just you wait until he hears what we have to tell him, then she'll be all ours._**'**

_I don't know about that. What if he decides to keep her cadaver all to himself or something of that sort? You can never know what to expect with those strange silent types like Itachi._

"What on earth did you do to that girl, Zetsu, you damned freak!"

Zetsu turned around, his mental conversation completely interrupted, and watched as the tall and intimidating figure of Kisame emerged out from one of Akatsuki's many ubiquitous hidden bases and edged closer still towards where Zetsu was sitting with Hinata's limp and unresponsive body still in his lap. Zetsu wasn't the type to be easily intimidated however, what with the many bizarre and grisly sights which his eyes had taken in during his lifetime.

"You're one to talk about being a freak, Kisame," he said as he turned with disdain to look upon Kisame's sharklike face. "But really, I did nothing to this girl that she didn't already have coming to her. It turns out that she's been trying to betray us all along, the dirty, lying little witch!"

"What proof do you have of that?" Kisame asked while opening his eyes wide.

"I saw her with another Hyuuga myself, being all touchy-feely and doting and not in the least bit concerned with what she was clearly told to do in the first place. She let Okura slip completely away, and looked like she was going to leave with her brother or whoever he was and tell everything that she knew, so I took care of the both of them," Zetsu answered, the lies slipping easily from his tongue.

Kisame swore under his breath and wondered how he was going to explain things to Itachi; it was especially annoying to think that they had ninjas from Konoha hot on their trail. It would seem as though quickly killing Hinata would be the safest way to go as Akatsuki didn't need any more double-minded followers. They'd had enough of those before.

Kisame's eyes moved over from Zetsu to Hinata, looking as oddly peaceful and contented as a sleeping child in it's mother's arms, and he sighed deeply. He had missed her while she was gone, missed arguing with her and toying with her, as well as occasionally spoiling her when Itachi wasn't around to see. He had thought of her as a cute and funny girl who helped to make things more lively and interesting and who lightened up his and Itachi's dark existence in a very much needed way.

However, he missed the feel of hard bone and flesh ripping and exploding under the weight of his blade far more than he could ever miss any woman and nothing, not even Hinata, could get in the way of him experiencing that again, and so if he needed to be the one to get rid of her, then so be it, he thought as the hint of a smile began to form on his face.

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Ok's explaining time…….I wrote and rewrote this chapter hundreds of times, and I'm not even exaggerating, but I didn't like any of them, so I just didn't update, which I am sorely sorry for, but I'm the type of person who will only update if I'm 100 confident that what I write isn't ….well…stupid.

Having said that much, I am well aware of the many possible stupidities and filler-ishness,lmao, that is probably rampant in this chapter, but as I said before, I am trying to see if I can possibly resurrect this story again, and so if I get a good number of reviews from all of you, than I will continue and maybe even make further chapters nice and smexy for all of you,lolz, ItaHina ftw!!

But it is extremely difficult writing Itachi's character, especially since, as all of you who are up to date with the manga are well aware, seems to have changed dramatically or something…I miss him so frikkin much! wahhhh...is crying my eyes out right about now

Well bye for now, I have been rambling here…REVIEW!!


	15. Attachment

Chapter 15…very hard to write…

All characters© Masashi Kishimoto

Screaming, shouting, fighting, and noise that seemed to go on forever. Good God, how Itachi hated it all. He preferred to get things done as quickly, efficiently, and with as little noise as possible; but ever since that day when he had been paired up with Kisame so many years ago, he had been forced to endure dealing with Kisame's loud, long- winded and brutal methods of getting things done. With his eyes still closed, he fumbled and grabbed around the bed for the nearest pillow that he could find, and when he found it at last, he covered his head with it in a nearly suffocating manner in order to block away all of the commotion going on outside, while momentarily wishing that it was his hearing rather than his eyesight which was daily fading away to nothing.

It was only very rarely that he was able to indulge in a full night's sleep as the thoughts and issues that he tended to completely avoid thinking about in his day to day life tended to surface during his dreams with such alarming force that he often preferred not to sleep at all, and that was how his nightly wandering as a distraction from both dull missions and from his own need for sleep had started.

It had been on such a night when luck (whether good or bad luck he still couldn't figure out) had thrown Hyuuga Hinata in his direction. Hinata. Itachi almost smiled while thinking of her, the spoiled little Hyuuga princess, out there in the big and hostile world all on her own, with nobody to shelter her or protect her. A small part of him willfully hoped that she was long dead already; that way his mind would be permanently freed from the unnecessary distraction of her, although he had to admit, he would miss that adorably stupid expression she always wore on her pretty face.

An earsplitting yell from Kisame brought Itachi out of his reflections and he very reluctantly got up to see just what kind of mess it was that Kisame had gotten himself into; slipping his robe on as he walked outside, prepared to possibly make Kisame and whoever the hell else was with him pay big time for interrupting his sleep.

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Kisame excitedly watched Hinata as she struggled on her hands and knees, dizzy and soaking wet, trying her hardest to get back up out of the mud again. He grinned and wondered just how much longer he would let her go on so pitifully the way that she was doing. He could barely contain his enthusiasm, as he felt very much like a cat that hadn't caught a mouse in quite some time and so he wanted to play around with his prey for a little while, catching her and then letting her go again until he was finally ready for the satisfaction of finally ending it all for the poor, sorry little girl.

He continued to watch in silent interest as she finally stood up while crying out in pain and clutching at the torn, bleeding skin on her shoulder, while staring back at him with a look that spelled out loudly and clearly the untiring strength of her will to survive.

"If I had been able to cut just a little deeper, princess, you'd be looking like some poor little girl's broken doll missing it's arm right about now." He leered and laughed to himself as he watched her momentarily flinch, and he wondered if she was finally starting to break under the intense mental and physical stress of their little confrontation.

Of course, he had to admit to himself that he was feeling more than a little guilty over the fact that he had basically attacked and challenged her the second that she showed the smallest signs of consciousness, catching her totally off guard, but it had been so worth the following clash that had ensued between them that he gladly tossed aside the feeling.

Zetsu of course, had conveniently disappeared as he usually did during violent or dangerous situations, and he was probably somewhere close by, spying and impatiently waiting for it all to end as soon as possible so that he could greedily claim whatever flesh was left on Hinata's dead body once Kisame was through with her.

Hinata took a step closer and stumbled, coughing up blood and water, before easily slipping into a defensive stance, causing Kisame to frown in frustration.

"Those chakra needles were pretty impressive, I have to admit, but when are you going to stop all of this defensive nonsense and let me see a little bit of those attacks that Itachi showed you? Or do you insist on sticking with your timid, peaceful way of fighting?" He shouted; heading dangerously close to where she stood, with Samehada raised threateningly high above his head.

Hinata looked on fearlessly, her eyes locked with his in an intimidating Byakugan stare. To Kisame, it seemed as though she were purposely refusing to answer him or even to acknowledge him and the danger he presented to her, which was starting to seriously get to him.

"Your pretty face looks absolutely horrifying when you do that, so this time; it's your face that I'll smash to pieces!"

"That would be a pretty sick thing to do to a girl, Kisame, although I do have to agree with you about her Byakugan. She does look really awful when she does that."

Kisame swiftly turned around upon hearing the sound of Itachi's voice. He noticed with a little bit of dread that Itachi looked as though he had recently woken up. Damn it, he thought. 'He's probably not going to be in that great of a mood, so I'll have some serious explaining to do.'

"What's going on?" Itachi asked, having already rendered Hinata unconscious before she could even register in her mind the fact that he'd been there all along.

"S..s..she was betraying us!" Kisame said, stuttering at first but then quickly losing fear. "Zetsu saw it. So I was just going to save you the work of getting rid of her, that's all. I swear it!"

Itachi stared back at him blankly before answering him back. "She's a woman, that's what they do, Kisame. They lie and they betray people all the time. It's in their nature," Itachi said casually, as if he had never betrayed anyone in his life. "Why do you think she's staying with us in the first place? You're making such a big fuss out of a small matter."

Kisame opened his eyes wide in surprise and shrugged. "So that's it. You're going to let her off just like that?"

"No," Itachi answered; shaking his head and sighing in exasperation. "She'll learn her lesson easily enough. Remember Deidara?"

Kisame smiled and nodded, looking off into the distance, as though remembering past times.

"How could I forget," he answered.

"Well, it took him quite awhile before he learned that he had no choice but to be loyal to Akatsuki whether he liked it or not. A little bit of time spent learning her lesson in tsukuyomi, and she'll be fine tomorrow morning."

Kisame nodded. He was a little peeved about not being able to finish fighting Hinata, but he was also a little relieved that Itachi arrived before he could do anything particularly horrifying and indecent to the poor girl.

"Funny that you should bring up poor little Deidara now that we know what our leader has planned for Hinata." Kisame had to shout back at Itachi as he was already walking away with Hinata in his arms.

Itachi turned around and stared at Kisame as an anxious expression made a rare appearance on his pale face.

"I'd rather not talk about that right now," he said, his voice practically dripping ice. "And by the way, you can tell Zetsu to get out from wherever he's hiding, and to find something to snack on someplace else. Hinata's off-limits. Don't forget that."

"I suggest keeping a closer eye on her then," Kisame answered defiantly while taking one last look at Hinata as she allowed Itachi to carry her away, shaking and shivering the whole time, as though even then she were still willfully fighting to stay awake and finish what had been started.

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Hinata opened her eyes slowly, finding that it was strangely agonizing to do so, and for a split second she wondered if she was going blind as there seemed to be no difference between the darkness that greeted her eyes when she opened them or that which she saw when she shut them closed again. Gradually though, she was able to make out shapes and shadows in the dark and as her hands moved in a kind of mad panic to feel out her surroundings, she found that she was lying on the floor on some sort of humble excuse for a futon.

As she timidly sat up, the thin blanket that covered her quickly fell away, exposing her naked body and causing her to shiver with both the cold and from her own overwhelming fears. She turned around in a futile attempt to crawl away from wherever she was, but the pain in her bandaged right shoulder caused her to cry out in pain, falling clumsily back down to the floor. Looking up, she was horrified to see Itachi's sharingan gaze; looking down at her with his usual bored expression, as though he'd seen plenty of naked women hundreds of times before in his life and as a result felt no awkwardness around her.

"I…Itachi-san," she cried out while instinctually covering her face, before instantly remembering that there were probably more obvious things that she needed to be covering.

"Stop moving around so much, you'll only end up bleeding more." As soon as she removed her hands from her face, she noticed that her face and hands were indeed stained with blood and that the sickeningly painful wound on her shoulder was starting to bleed through the bandages, bandages that she suddenly realized Itachi had probably put there himself.

Without any words, he began to carefully clean her face and body with cloth that she noticed came from some of her old clothes. She felt terribly self-conscious and exposed to have his hands so close to her skin, but his touch held all the coldness of a jaded medic or somebody of that sort. As warm water began to drip from the cloth onto her skin, she gradually began to relax and found herself drifting back into sleep again, before Itachi's harsh whisper caused her eyes to quickly open wide once more.

"Don't think that I'm doing you some sort of kind favor by keeping you alive. If I have to, I can make you wish that you were dead, but I have my own reasons to let you off this time."

Hinata stayed quiet. By now, she had known Itachi long enough to be used to such comments, but it still hurt to know that she had failed him in the same way that she had failed almost everyone.

"I…I'm sorry, Itachi-san. I'll do better next time, I swear it. I wouldn't possibly betray you; you know perfectly well that there's nobody else for me to go back to. I have nothing; nobody."

She realized that her voice was starting to quiver and her eyes were filling up with tears, and so she held on to her knees in a pitiable attempt to cover both her face and her body.

Itachi smiled for a brief moment. All of Itachi's smiles were like that, Hinata thought. They were frighteningly beautiful, but they lasted for such a short time that if you looked away for even a second you'd wonder if he had even been smiling at all.

He wrapped his arms around her and she let go of her knees, holding onto him impulsively, and wishing afterwards that she hadn't done so.

It would be so much better for her in life if she had been able to keep herself from getting so easily attached to people, especially people like Itachi whom she had no business getting attached to in the first place and who did nothing but confuse her all of the time, she thought to herself. While she anxiously clutched at Itachi, at his cloak and his hair, she mentally went down the list of people whom she was still unable to let go of in her mind: her old and ever-accepting team eight, her first love Naruto, her cousin Neji and her little sister Hanabi, and of course Sasuke…Hinata realized with some worry that she no longer felt the sharp stabs of grief and desperate need anymore when she thought of him. In fact she felt almost nothing. Was she forgetting him so easily already?

Her wet skin was sticking uncomfortably to Itachi's clothes, but she found that it was too hard to pull away. She didn't want to feel the cold air on her skin again.

She couldn't keep herself from sighing as Itachi's mouth moved close to her ear.

"Forget about Akatsuki. Tell them you can't do it anymore. Stay right here and don't leave."

Hinata felt her energy returning to her as Itachi's words gave her the will to finally break out of his embrace.

"W…what are you talking about," she near shouted at him, dreading what he might tell her next.

"You're not ready yet, and you most likely never will be. I wanted them all to see it with their own eyes. If you really want to help Akatsuki, I'll find simpler things to do that suit your talents better."

"What, like washing dishes," Hinata snapped back, almost causing Itachi to smile once again. He loved seeing the many ways that Sasuke's sarcasm had rubbed off onto her without her realizing it. Hinata, however, found no humor in the fact that she was once again being underestimated and pushed aside.

"No, but a girl like you can't really be serious about this, and I'm fully aware that you'd never purposely lay a finger to harm any of your comrades back in Konoha."

For a brief moment, Hinata thought that she would very much enjoy laying all ten fingers and then some on Sasuke for being the start of all the troubles in her life but she dutifully pushed him out of her mind in order to focus on the situation at hand.

"What purpose do I have then?" She shouted at him while her body turned a very amusing shade of red.

Itachi turned away from her angry face. "How can I say this without being rude," he said softly. "If you insist on staying with Akatsuki, you'll almost certainly die. I'm sure of it. I don't think that all of the training in the world could change you, because it's not a matter of your strength, but of your personality."

Hinata, somewhat childishly, drew the whole blanket over her body in order so that she wouldn't have to look at Itachi anymore. His black eyes and black hair, it was too much to handle and she wished that she never had to look at him again.

Itachi pushed aside the blanket without a thought, causing Hinata to feel frighteningly cold once again.

"What are you doing?" She whispered; finally starting to feel a little frightened as he took her softly by her hair.

"Look at you" he whispered roughly into her ear while stroking her shoulders. "Your so soft. You're not meant for killing others. I'm trying to show you that."

Hinata froze completely as his open mouth traveled eagerly towards her ear, her lips, her chest, her arms, and then down towards her stomach. Why can't I make myself move, she thought in a near panic as her hands stayed right where they were on his shoulders and back, and she realized that compared to him, she was indeed very soft and weak. Why can't I stop him, move him, slap him, something, anything? She thought to herself. Feelings and sensations that she hadn't felt in ages rushed through her body at full force and she despised feeling like a slave to them. Her limbs were shivering like mad, and she desperately wished that she could stop them as she wanted to appear completely unnaffected by Itachi's attention, however impossible that seemed.

He looked her straight in the eye as though reading her mind. How she hated that ability of his to always seem to know her thoughts.

"Aren't you going to stop me? I never meant to go any further than this. I was only trying to scare you just a little, but you don't seem to be very afraid at all."

At the sound of his voice, she froze even more, as the tone of his voice held an almost hypnotic effect on her, even if his words did have something of a spoiled and selfish ring to them. Who else did she have left in this world but him? She asked herself rather miserably, as half of her wondered whether it would be better to be alone forever then to have someone like Itachi as a lover or even as a friend. Her wounds were beginning to bleed again, causing Itachi to quickly pull away.

"I'm sorry, this was all really pointless" he mumbled, looking genuinely puzzled at his own impulsive behaviour and getting up as though to leave. Hinata had thought that she'd be grateful for his abscence, but as she saw him walking away, she felt as though she couldn't bear to be left alone. She grabbed onto his cloak, feeling the muscles on his back as she did so.

"What," he said, suddenly sounding both angered and frightened at the same time. Hinata loved hearing that kind of emotion coming from him.

"Stay," she whispered, hating the weak feeling of wanting to be anything but alone.

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Well, well, well, that was a little awkward, wasn't it? XD I'm not used to writing this kind of stuff...this whole chapter was really awkward to write basically, which is why I put off submitting it for so long, but if one person likes it, I'll be okay...

I'm a bit stuck, I guess, I think that I might even need to reread my own earlier chapters as I've actually forgotten much of what's happened myself...that's what happens when your busy,lolz

Anyways, thanks for all of the comments on that last chapter, they were all very helpful and interesting…basically I'm going to keep most of your advice and keep Itachi's personality and the goings on in this story as my own personal creation and try not to get too caught up in what's canon or not…I adore the manga as much as anyone but it is called fanfiction for a reason after all, but some things that are way too good to pass up from the original story, like Itachi's dead ex girlfriend for example, may gradually make their way into this story. That's all for now…read and review as always, luvs 3


	16. Soft

disclaimer: these are not my character's they're Masashi Kishimoto's, and um, yeah...I'm half asleep right now so forgive any weirdness in this chapter...

"Stay...please stay." Hinata wrapped her small body firmly around Itachi's, and as he instinctively wrapped his tired arms around her in response, he couldn't help noticing for perhaps the hundredth time just how impossibly soft she was, so strange and impossibly soft for one who spent a lifetime training and pushing her body mercilessly so that she could eventually become stronger.

His fingers seemed to be melting and sinking into her milk white skin, into the small of her back and then around to the silky skin on her stomach, which seemed to be quivering and vibrating chaotically beneath his fingers. He was mesmerized, so that he barely noticed her slowly pulling away at his many garments, nor did he care. He had done the 'hynotizing', the seducing, and the lying before; he had played the demanding role countless times, and so he liked the rare chance at being a little more passive for once, and as he took a look upward at her kitten-eyed stare, he felt just the smallest stab of sympathy for Hinata; thinking perhaps he owed it to himself to make it up to her for taking her away from everything that she had ever known. He pressed his lips against her throat, her ears, chest, stomach; everywhere where she was still shivering, still shaking, and not making a single sound other than the breath that came out louder and quicker with every second, a sound that Itachi soon found himself mirroring as he quickly lost himself within the many smooth spaces of her body. 88888888

Hinata lay curled up on the futon, with her knees almost touching her chin; she lay so still that at a glance one could barely tell if she were even alive, but she felt very much alive as she breathed in the warmth of the air that surrounded her, taking it in and out thoughtfully.

Her hair on the pillow underneath her seemed to be soaking wet, but whether with sweat or tears she wasn't quite sure.

She listened with more than a little bit of ill-timed nostalgia to the steady breathing beside her and wondered how Itachi could possibly be sleeping when she herself had barely closed her eyes during the last few hours. The sudden memory of the oddly sweet taste of Itachi's mouth and skin suddenly had her suddenly opening her mouth wide in an attempt to catch her breath, and she had to stop her eager fingers from reaching out to him again, from pulling him back firmly onto her and starting the whole torrid, messy business that people dared to call lovemaking all over again.

_Good God, how? How? How could I have been so weak-willed?_ Hinata suddenly found herself pulling hard at her own hair as though she were punishing herself for her own uncharacteristic impulsiveness. It certainly was never her intention for things to happen the way that they did. She never wanted him in that way, had never even once thought of him that way, even after those few times that he had kissed her against her will. She just knew that she didn't want to be left alone, didn't want to be abandoned again, and at that moment when she had seen him leaving and had grabbed him before he could escape her the only thought that had raced through her mind was that she would do anything, absoulutely anything to keep from being abandoned again, even if it meant giving up every last part of herself to him.

She stifled a sigh as Itachi pulled her closer to him in his sleep, praying to God that he wouldn't wake up, that she wouldn't have to look him in the eye now that she had been had like some sort of common woman off the street corner. She couldn't bear to do it, live life normally again as though nothing had ever happened. She knew that plenty of other girls were that way, could be with someone thet barely knew intimately and then chat with them and leave them as if the whole thing meant nothing, but Hinata could never be like that. However, she didn't want it to mean anything, she wanted to forget so very badly. She bit at the white sheets she was holding onto in frustration, hating that they were such a pure and pristine shade of white that seemed to be mocking her considering what she had done.

What could someone like her possibly be to Itachi but a way to pass empty time? How did she graduate from being the honored wife of an Uchiha to some kind of secret love slave of an Uchiha? And why was it that everytime she wished to start over and leave everything behind, she ended up in even worse messes than she was in before? It was all so pathetic, she thought as she buried her face further into the sweaty sheets and wished that she could sleep forever, suffocating on the scent of a lover she wished had never been born, and grateful at least that the morning was still so very dark, and that no light yet threatened to expose her.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to herself, not knowing exavtly who she should be sorry for; Sasuke, whom she had finally betrayed, or the many whom thought her dead? _I deserve to be dead,_ she thought while finally closing her eyes.

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Itachi quickly dressed and fled from that hot, cramped little room; eager, and possibly even a little afraid, of watching Hinata awaken. He could still picture her perfectly in his mind's eye as he had seen her in that last second before he left, clutching hard at the blankets in her sleep as teardrops fell from her eyes and left odd spots on the sheets underneath her before gradually fading away to nothing. All the while, her pretty little mouth moved softly, guiltily mumbling out several names, not one of them his unfortunately.

Naturally, the one name that he heard her speak most clearly and with the most obvious pain belonged to the person that he liked to forget even existed on the same planet, walking and breathing the same cursed air that he did.

_Why can't she just give him up already, and move on. God only knows, I gave up all hope for the poor fool ages ago._

Itachi tried unsuccessfully to block out all thoughts of his younger brother from creeping into his mind, but it seemed all but impossible, thanks to that angel-eyed whore in sheep's clothing which still lay dead to the world in his bed and whom he would've very happily inflicted some kind of serious harm on if he hadn't gotten enough distance from her. He didn't like being toyed around with.

Once he was outdoors however, he finally felt as though he could breathe again. He wasn't going to turn back. He wasn't going to go back to her again. She and Sasuke both could go hang for all that he cared.

"Your looking strangely guilt ridden today, Itachi. It sort of suits you, that sad little angel face."

Kisame sat in front of a stream, staring fondly at the cool rushing water, while Itachi fought the strong urge to ignore him and sat reluctantly down beside him.

"It must've been hard on you, I know, teaching that stubborn woman a lesson that she won't soon forget, but you did the right thing, as if someone like you would really care about 'doing the right thing' anyways," Kisame said rather cynically.

"You have no idea," Itachi answered back with a sardonic smile to match Kisame's mocking tone of voice. He was still very much baffled at how Hinata could make him forget himself the way that he did, could make him lose all sense of self control like that, only to make him feel like some sort of sub-par Sasuke replacement at the last minute.

"Well, in any case, once we get to our next rendezvous point, she'll no longer be our problem any more and it'll be just us two again," Kisame said while stretching langurously onto the grass and staring up at the clouds again.

"I'm very much looking forward to it," Itachi said, thinking aloud and remembering how just the very day before, he had been dreading the thought of being seperated from her but now eagerly welcomed the prospect. Could spending one night with a woman really cause your opinions of her to change for the worst? Itachi could almost blush to recall his rather frightening track record with women, from the brutal murder of the woman he had been betrothed to, and then finally to kidnapping his brother's wife, it wasn't exactly the kind of thing a person could be proud of, that was for sure. Perhaps he had been judging Hinata a little too harshly, or perhaps his pride wouldn't allow him to admit to himself that she had possibly used him. In any case, as Kisame had reminded him, she would soon no longer be his problem. He could wash his hands completely clean of her, he thought as he too was lost in thoughts as the water continued to rush. 88888888888

"Ugh"...Hinata held her throbbing head in her hands as a splitting headache woke her up from what had seemed to be a blissful eternity of sleep. As she slowly sat up, sharp pains tingled througout her arms and legs as a result of her lying so still for so long in her foolish attempt to forget that she was alive. As she rubbed at her tired eyes, she noticed that everything above her seemed to be oddly blue, and as she slowly regained her vision returned her head throbbed with even more force as she noticed Kisame's towering body staring down at her with more than a little interest on his face. She furiously folded herself up into the corner of the futon and was about to throw her blanket at him before she blushed, realizing that she still had nothing covering her underneath.

Hinata gasped and tried her hardest to give Kisame the most vicious looking stare that she could muster up at the moment; one which appeared as though she would activate her byakugan at any moment, in the hopes that she would appear at least a little threatening in spite of her highly vulnerable and embarrassing position. Unfortunately for her, however, Kisame was clearly as unfazed and unimpressed as always. He defiantly bent down so as to be even more intrusively close to her, close enough to watch the steady rising and falling of her chest and stomach as she inhaled and exhaled.

"I see that you're still in the mood for more of what you got yesterday, am I right?"

Oh, I had forgotten all about that! Hinata brought her hand to her head in dazed exasperation, realizing that all of her lazy and indulgent hours of sleep (among other things) had caused her to completely forget about her battle of sorts with Kisame, even as her wounds still stung and bled fresh beneath her many bandages. Kisame blinked furiously for a moment and stepped back.

"Hey, you haven't forgotten about it already, have you? I didn't think that it was that boring, but I guess I don't blame you." He turned away from her as his voice took on a sinister, yet amused tone. "If I had spent the last of my hours in a dark and tormenting reality of Itachi's creation, then I guess that I would've forgotten all about it as well.

Hinata felt a flush of heat spread across her face and body as the realization of what Kisame was saying finally hit her. Is that what Itachi told him? In her own mind, she was arguing with herself furiously. That he was 'punishing' me all night long. Oh that sure is a clever way to think of it, she thought to herself sarcastically. She now wanted nothing more than to take a long soak in the tub and wash every last lingering trace of him off of her tired body.

Tsukuyomi. Had that truly been his original intention? Was it what she had truly deserved? She shuddered at the thought of the utter helplessness and cruelty of it, but at the same time, she wondered if going through that would've been preferable to what really had happened. She tried to ignore such thoughts and quickly took advantage of Kisame's being turned around to scan the room for any kind of clothing she could throw on, but other than her bloodied and broken clothes which were folded neatly in a corner, she could see nothing.

"Don't worry about it," Kisame said, agitating her once again by turning back around to face her. We'll leave you with some nice new clothes before we see you off."

"Off?" Hinata felt her mouth go dry and her skin grow cold as she tried to figure out just what he was telling her. Were they planning to abandon her for her failure?

"Oh don't look so glum. You've had it coming for a long time now." There was not a hint of either warmth or humor in Kisame's voice. Don't panic, don't cry, please, don't cry, not now. Hinata tried to keep herself from falling apart before she even knew what was really going on, convinced that on account of her failure with her last assignment she would most certainly be banished from Akatsuki.

"Itachi and I were too soft with you." Kisame continued, seeming to very much enjoy the troubled look on Hinata's face, the perfectly round pink circle that her mouth made especially captivated him.

"I't's about time that you moved on to someone who's better equipped to handle someone like you, who has better experience with foolish young people with tendencies to run, and it seems that fate has thrown that person back into Akatsuki at just the right time to serve us in this way."

Hinata looked tentatively into Kisame's face, somewhat relieved that it seemed she would still remain with Akatsuki, but terribly frightened at the thought of leaving everything that had become familiar to her.

I'm warning you princess, this is somebody who would gladly skin you alive before letting you try and betray us again."

"I didn't betray..."

"Talking civilly towards someone that you should have been killing for getting in your god-damned way; it's all the same thing," Kisame replied, cutting her off curtly. "And, oh yes."

Kisame looked over at the ceiling as though remembering something immensely important. "He absolutely despises women, this new partner of yours, so all of that weak and helpless act that you play whenever Itachi's around won't be working for you anymore either, but I wish you all the luck in the world, sweetheart." With that, he was gone, leaving Hinata more mystified than ever, as everything suddenly seemed to be moving frighteningly fast and in such dangerously unexpected directions.

She was in far too much of a puzzled daze to hear his last words before he slammed the door. "Sasori-kun is going to tear you to pieces, poor little princess," he said with a disturbingly low chuckle.

END of chap.

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Um, hihi, beauties...oh gosh, I'm super fidgety right now. Anyways, I was so not eager to write this chapter, as you could probably tell, as I figured that some kind of ahem, action of the lemon flavored variety seemed neccessary to move the story along, but I have no talents for writing that sort of thing. Add to that the fact that I know some of you who read this are in the 11-13 age range, and I didn't want to be thought of as just another dirty, pervy fangirl writer XD. So I tried to keep what little action there was as brief and classy as I could, but if you have any pointers for me, I'll be glad to take them, and maybe I'll do better next time...I take writing seriously, so I'm always eager for opinions...as I am aware that this chapter's a bit of a confusing bore to read...

With that said, some of you might be annoyed that Hinata still isn't over Sasuke, but come on, she's a loyal girl at heart, and I really hate it in these types of ItaHinaSasu fanfics when Hinata is usually so easily won over by sexual prowess and such, but that's really just not her, people...

and on one last note, Sasori-kun yay,- does a little happy dance-

Sasuke:this chapter was a real bore, implications of sex and all

me:that's just cause your not in it, hun

Sasuke: don't call me that...

REVIEW!


	17. Ache

Okay everybody's, basically I've had no Internet access for over two months. It's too embarassing to get into, but I'd like to thank all those who still read and reviewed this story while I was away, especially Opal Soul. Without those reviews I probably wouldn't have bothered to finish this. I'm still working it all out in my head but I hope that this satisfies in the meantime. If not, my apologies...

(c) Masashi Kishimoto

Neji studied the young girl standing before him with more interest than he had ever paid to her ever before as they cautiously circled each other in preparation for a good spar. At fourteen years old, Hyuuga Hanabi had nearly caught up to him in height, and at a quick glance she could easily be mistaken for his twin sister. They were that much alike in appearance. With the exception of the large, striking white eyes they all shared, she in no way resembled her missing older sister, in looks or in personality, and so when he was entrusted to begin helping her with some of her training, he had found it to be a task that was both exciting and tiring, to say the least.

"Hanabi-chan."

Neji smiled at the way her eyebrows and mouth turned with such transparent annoyance at the sound of her name. Hanabi hated to be addressed as a mere child, but Neji saved "sama" and other such terms of respect and maturity for Hiashi and for Hinata alone.

"I saw somebody the other day, and I think that you might be interested in hearing all about it," he continued while dodging a well aimed strike towards his throat.

"If it was Konohamaru, well then you can tell him that the answer is no, I will not be going to Ichiraku with him!"

"Nope, wasn't him."

"Was it Sano-kun, or Mamoru, or Sho…?"

"No, no, it wasn't any of them, good God, Hanabi, how many of these poor fools do you juggle around just for fun?" Neji looked up and shook his head with disapproval, wondering just how a girl who was so impossibly headstrong and high-maintenance could get so popular with the boys of Konoha in such a short amount of time.

"Then just who rtgst was it?" Hanabi's hands were on her hips now and her painfully high-pitched voice was beginning to seriously wear at Neji's patience. His eyes flitted around nervously, side to side, making sure that absolutely no one else from their clan was anywhere within earshot. He took hold of both of her small, yet strong and toned arms in his own hands and gave her a look which clearly spelled out that he was through with teasing and had something more serious in mind to tell her.

"If you're trying to blow my concentration with some cheap dirty trick, I am so warning you, Neji- niisan, it's not going to happen." Neji arched an eyebrow skeptically and smiled.

"What if I told you that your poor lost sister has been alive and well all this time, and that I saw her with my own eyes and spoke to her?" Neji said the words as casually as if he were commenting on the weather, but Hanabi stood with her fist frozen in the air as the circles of her eyes and mouth slowly grew wider. Neji then decided to savor the awkward silence that followed, broken only by the wailing of the wind, which was blowing Hanabi's straight hair wildly about her face, making her appear even more caught off guard than she already was.

He prepared for the inevitable firecracker explosion that was sure to follow in the form of a volley of badly aimed slaps and punches paired with her shrilly shouting out as many colorful obscenities as her quick mind could think up, but it never happened. Instead she turned around as though she were going to ignore him and leave, but her small hands remained clenched, and her voice as she finally answered him back was laced with disgust.

"Play around with me like that again and I swear I will kill you. I will wipe the floor with that arrogant head of yours, don't think that I won't."

Neji sighed, willing himself not to snap back at her with an equally vicious retort. But she really could do it if she wanted to, he thought. Hanabi wasn't quite at his level yet, but as a member of the Hyuuga clan's privileged main branch and as the heiress of all their clan's power; the ability to kill him was her birthright. She commanded his respect, whether she was worthy of it or not, and so Neji took a few cautionary steps back.

"I'm not playing around with you, Hanabi. I just really needed to let you know that. I may have approached the subject in the wrong way, but it's the truth. I can swear it on my life; I'm the only one who knows. I saw her with my own eyes during my last assignment. She's still alive, but she's not exactly…"

Neji remained silent for a moment, trying to find the right words to say before continuing.

"She's not really all in her right mind, I'm sorry to have to say; but really, we should've expected that something like this would end up happening as a result of being forced to marry that worthless, disgusting, ex-criminal son of a…"

Neji abruptly stopped his ranting upon hearing a small and childlike whimper of a sound coming from Hanabi's direction, and noticed for the first time that her thin shoulders were beginning to quiver a bit. He cautiously inched closer, and then roughly turned her around so that she was facing him at an eye level. He was astonished to see that her face was swollen, red, and completely drenched in tears that were continuing to fall with no sign of stopping.

"Why? If what you're saying is true, then why didn't you bring her back? What in the hell are you good for if you saw her and couldn't even bring her back home where she belongs?"

Neji suddenly found himself looking about in all directions in order to avoid his young cousin's intense and accusing stare. Emotionally speaking, Hanabi had always been the toughest of all the Hyuuga children; never daring to reveal even a hint of weakness to the world at large, and yet here she appeared utterly broken before him at the mention of her beloved older sister, who in truth had been more like a mother to her in many ways. He had no idea how to respond back in the face of such a rare and raw display of emotion from the girl.

"Hanabi-sama," he said, deciding to be respectful towards her rather than condescending, for once. "I, I'm sorry. I tried, truly I did, but she wouldn't come with me. She didn't want to." He was aware just how desperate and pathetic he was beginning to sound, but he still continued to speak, sweating in spite of the chill in the air. "I think she had even said that she'd rather be dead than come back here again."

"You're lying! You're always making excuses, always! You were supposed to protect her!"

"I know."

Neji looked down at the ground as shame started to cause the color to rise on his pale features. "The only reason that I finally decided to let you know all this in the first place was because I wanted to make a…"

"What is going on here? Just what did you say to my daughter to make her cry like that?"

Neji nearly jumped as Hyuuga Hiashi's gruff voice cut short his plea to Hanabi, who unfortunately for him, was still slouching there with her hands over her swollen, reddened eyes. Damn it, he thought.

"Forgive me Uncle, I was only, well uh, teasing her a little about a…" Neji's mind struggled for a moment to come up with a quick lie. "About a crush, that's all. I didn't think that she'd take it so seriously, but she is at that age already, you know. Believe me, I promise it won't happen again." He ended his statement with a short bow before turning to Hanabi, who seemed to be pulling herself back together.

Hiashi only grunted skeptically in reply and looked from his nephew's face to his daughter's. Most of her tears had faded away already and she nodded in reply as though she were going along with Neji's excuse. The hard lines on Hiashi's face momentarily softened as he gazed upon the girl who had always been the more adored of his two daughters, and whom he cherished all the more following Hinata's disappearance. All traces of tenderness quickly faded fom his face when he opened his mouth to speak again, however.

"I don't know what's been up with you lately, Neji, but you had better deal with it soon, because I will not tolerate disrespect towards my daughter by you or by anyone else for that matter." Not even bothering to stay and see whether the two would try to further explain themselves, Hiashi turned to leave and attend to whatever more urgent clan business needed attending to. Neji watched as his form grew smaller and smaller as it faded further into the distance before he addressed Hanabi once again.

"Later, and in private, you and I really need to talk, and no histrionics this time, okay?"

Hanabi's small mouth twisted with rage, causing a strange relief to overtake Neji. It was good to see the firecracker get back some of her fire. She would be more than willing to go after his plans, he was sure of it.

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"You're on your own now, but he should be here any minute, so be alert." Hinata nodded her head at Itachi's words without turning back to look at him, which filled him with relief, as having to stare her straight in her liquid eyes seemed to turn his stomach as of late, affecting him like a fast-working, lethal poison.

As a result, he could barely stand viewing the lithe, graceful curve of her body from the corner of his eye as she stood mutely next to the gates of an old temple cemetery, a fragrant bouquet of amaryllis flowers in her hands as though she were coming to honor a long-dead relative.

In reality, she was waiting to be joined up with Sasori, who had only just recently been discovered by Akatsuki to still be alive, and who was eager to prove that he could still be useful to the struggling organization even after what they considered to be a laughably pathetic defeat at the hands of two kunoichi.

The flowers, a deep and sensual red with velvety black artificial flowers mixed into the bouquet and all tied together with a lengthy white ribbon to mimic the colors of Akatsuki attire, was to serve as her identification. The distinctive dark purple hue of her nails, which stuck out all the more against her black dress, would serve that aim as well, not that Itachi thought it would be hard for Sasori to recognize her either way. Who else but a Hyuuga could have such eerily blank-looking eyes which were the very opposite of his own; which were dark and alive and which were the mark of his own annihilated clan .

He would breathe a little easier during the day, as well as sleep a little easier at night, when he never had to stare into those eyes again. Good riddance to you, he thought. Let Sasori deal with you as he will. I've washed my hands clean of you from now on.

"You don't like it here, do you? Are you eager to leave?"

"What do you mean?" Hearing her voice was almost as bad as having to look at her.

Hinata bit at her nail and fingers before she spoke, with that kind of nervous energy which Itachi used to find secretly charming, but which was now beginning to strike him as a kind of mask which she enjoyed hiding behind.

"It makes you guilty, doesn't it? Standing before here, and remembering those whom you sent to their own early graves?"

"It makes me feel nothing," he replied as he watched her childish display of nailbiting with an odd mixture of interest and disgust. "In any case, if you stick around with Sasori, then you yourself will be leaving behind your own trail of dead bodies, and soon. It's inevitable."

Her mouth opened wide with obvious worry and surprise for a moment after that, and Itachi relished the small feeling of triumph that arose in his chest, mixed with that sickening and unfamiliar tinge of guilt. How did I come to start thinking about you like this, he thought. You were suppossed to be different. Special. What happened? I never should've touched you, he continued in his mind.

"I'll be leaving now, he said," without another look behind at her face. He was starting to shake a bit, and he felt a poison and a pain far older than that which he blamed on her rising through his body, his chest and throat; that old sickness of his which was his worst and best-hidden weakness, the one which he'd never allowed her to see.

He instinctively held his hands over his mouth and watched as they were slowly stained crimson. He didn't want her to watch him bleed or suffer. He was glad to finally get away from her.

END OF CHAPTER

REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!


	18. Ghosts

It seems that even after more than a year of writer's block with this little tale, I still can't quite let it go XD

Besides, I still wanted to write more with Sasori and with Sasuke; so I hope that some of you are still hanging in there with me.

Enjoy.

(c) Masashi Kishimoto

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Even as she stood against the cemetery gates, Hinata's eyes began to sleepily close aginst her will, and it was only the gentle tickle of her long lashes brushing down aginst her round cheeks which was keeping her from nearly drifting off right where she stood. It's beginning to get late, she realized as she stared out into the distance to see if she colud discern any possible movements or signs of her mysteriously absent partner-to-be, but there were none to be found.

Few people are brave enough to travel anywhere near such a place as this at night, she thought, deciding that it would probably be best to stay the night over at the temple-owned inn nearby, in spite of the wandering ghosts which were sure to keep her wide awake throughout the long, cold night. Not to mention the fact that she would no longer have the guilty conveniance of Itachi's warm body lying beside hers, but she was far more relieved about that undelicate little fact than she'd originally expected to be, as it meant that she was now free of any unneccessary crutches to leran on.

Free, but if she had learned anything at all during her brief time away from being an ignored, unhappy wife in Konoha, it was that freedom was most often temporary at best, save for the freedom which came only with death. There was always someone or something else around the corner waiting to drag her down and shackle her back up again. It was only a matter of time before she was enslaved in some way or another once again, and so she silently resolved to hold on as tightly as she could to whatever fleeting fragments of freedom happened to come her way. She wanted to hold them as tightly as she held the now-wilting, drooping flowers in her small hands.

Turning around to leave, however, she found herself gasping aloud with her mouth wide open like an idiot as she found herself eye-to-eye with what was perhaps the most beautiful human being whom she had ever laid eyes upon. Indeed, it was the young male stranger's beauty, rather than his sudden and unexpected presence, which had caused her to gasp and let loose her solid grip on the blood and sable colored flowers, causing them to fall ungracefully at her feet.

Her fingers begged to reach out and touch the smooth-faced, red haired stranger, but a raw and sickening sort of fear held her back from doing so, as his beauty was far different from Sasuke's rugged good looks, Itachi's dark and subtle attraction, or even Naruto's sunny charm. His was a cold, dead, doll-like sort of perfection which caused her to wonder whether or not she was staring into the face of one of the very ghosts which she had been nervously thinking about just moments before.

"S...Sa...Sasori..., she suddenly spoke aloud, hoping that her hunch was right. "Sasori-sempai?"

"Sempai?" His surprisingly deep and mature tone of voice startled Hinata a little bit more than she already was, if that were even possible. "Well, I supposse anything is pereferable to being called danna all the time, but as for you..."

Hinata was beginning to grow weary of hearing herself referred to in a dissappointed manner, and was more than eager to prove herself, if she were given the chance. Aside from that, she knew that there was no danger of falling for someone who seemed so clearly untouchable, so obviously beyond her leauge.

"You're barely out of adulthood, a mere child, perhaps a little older than Deidara had been, but with none of his worldliness, or love of violence. I can sense it already. You're not at all the fierce, renegade master of the byakugan that I was led to believe I'd be paired up with." His glasslike eyes and face barely moved as he spoke, giving Hinata an odd rush of nerves from her stomach to her rapidly beating heart as he continued. "If this is all some sort of joke meant to shame and punish me for the failure that left me a comatose soul wandering without a body for all these years, then I won't hesitate to make you suffer and bleed until you go running right back where you came from, begging for mercy from your spineless Hokage."

Hinata now clenched her fists hard, causing the fragrant oils within the flowers to burst out and run down her fingers.

"Nothing that you could possibly do to me could be any worse than what I've already done to myself. Go ahead and do what you will."

"If you insist on it."

With a brief flicker of his wrist, a thin and flashing needle flew straight towards Hinata's ungaurded throat before she had even a second to react to it. It penetrated itself there, letting loose a small spray of blood which dotted her skin like scarlet raindrops. With unsteady, shaking hands she pulled it from her skin, leaving a small but ragged hole in her neck as she dropped to the ground on her knees. Then, the unsteadiness and jerkiness of her movements began to steadily give way to an unsettling and eerie stillness. A sort of nothingness, she thought as her numb body met the cold dirt face-on.

Sasori knelt down towards her and turned her over with a smile which she woulkd've described as tender or compassionate, were it not for the gleam of malice which gave a sudden vivid and frightening life to those lifeless, empty eyes.

"Are you in pain, Hyuuga?"

Hinata attempted in vain to move her mouth in reply, but it felt tight and heavy, as though it were filled with a mound of heavy, bitter tasting stones.

"Ah, how stupid of me."

His enjoyment was clear and unhidden from his voice. "Of course you feel no pain. You're completely free of all feeling, of all movement even." In a cruel mockery of affection, he pressed his lips to her still-bleeding throat, staining that flawless babyface of his and momentarily blocking her view with his impossibly rich and red head of hair. To her complete shame and terror, Hinata realized that indeed, she could feel none of what was happening to her, but could only watch as one watching a play or a performance would.

"What courses through your body right now is something that Orochimaru invented years ago with different varieties of snake venom. I gladly stole it from the bastard before he got away from Akatsuki, and it's the one thing that I'm grateful to him for."

No, Hinata thought, trying with frantic desperation to will even a finger or a knee to move. No, I can't die here, I won't die here, she repeated to herself.

"Don't wear yourself out trying to move, little girl. It will wear off on it's own after some time," he murmured as he stared her in her unblinking eyes, seeming to read her every thought and fear. "You can still breathe, but just barely."

His grip on her shoulders was rock hard and unrelenting, causing her to feel as though he could push her down beneath the moist, black earth to lie down with all the other corpses resting there if that were what he really wanted to do.

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Sasuke liked to think of himself as a champion of sorts when it came to the not so subtle art of the staredown. So it caused him a near insane amount of pleasure to watch Neji's eyes roll downwards toward the ground during what had been a pretty intense bout of an across the sidewalk staring match before the Hyuuga finally turned and walked away, back to minding his own damn business.

Serves him right, Sasuke thought while musing over the unpleasant fact that his Hyuuga nemesis, and chief rival when it came to ANBU domination, seemed to be hiding something very large up those absurdly long sleeves of his. He had seemed even more secretive than usual as of late, but in a smug, knowing, arrogant sort of way that made Sasuke's blood feel like it had gone boiling hot throughout his entire body and would cause him to explode shortly if he didn't get to the heart of the matter and quickly.

He had first noticed it on an obligatory visit to Hinata's memorial. It couldn't be called a grave really, due to the lack of a body, but was merely a stone engraved with her name in kanji and covered with an overflowing abundance of flowers, cards, and other tokens of love and devotion scattered all around it as though they had rained down from the blue sky itself. 'A Sunny Place' it said, in reference to Hinata's name, and it lived up to that name for the many who treated it as a shrine to the lost Hyuuga beauty, but to him it was anything but. For him it was yet another reminder of someone that he trampled upon, despised at times even, but who was now lost to him forever.

Did he still miss her? He had accepted her death, to be sure, but wished that things had ended a little...cleaner, that was the word which he had been searching for in his mind that day. Then there had been _him_.

Neji had walked over towards his cousin's shrine as casually as though he were walking past a goddamned grocery store, Sasuke had thought, wondering what had happened to the tears, the occassional wailing and cursing God, and of course, the chilly stares in Sasuke's direction if they happened to be there at the same time. Instead, Neji had merely smiled, lifted his head up and whispered. To Sasuke, it sounded like he had said something along the lines of, _this won't be here for much longer._

Had he been implying that the woman Sasuke had finally laid to rest in his heart hadn't been reduced to ashes after all? Sasuke couldn't deal with that if it was true, he couldn't bear to look her in the face after so long, but at the same time, he needed to know the truth. He was beginning to sweat now as he thought about it, despite the fact that it was a relatively cool day, and held on hard to his kunai as though he could battle away any of his disturbing thougts. _I'm imagining things, I have to be, _kept running over and over again in his mind, but still, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something very important that he needed to know and knew nothing of. It was the same sort of feeling that he'd had as a child before his parents died.

He would get the truth out of that cursed cousin of Hinata's even if he nearly killed him in the proccess, but in the meantime, he had to get back home. Hotaru would be waiting for him, waiting to make him forget whatever it was that was bothering him. He could deal with her brand of sympathy now, because it helped him to forget, when she gave herself so willingly and with so few regrets, just the way that _she_ used to, that wife he had trampled over like a dandelion.

END OF CHAP.

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Sasuke is an insane perv,lolz

oh, and on a final note, thanks to the recession, I officially have no Internet of my own and am forced to use the library for this, so forgive any weird, rushed typos, I did my best...

REVIEW!!!!!


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